Families of Past, Friends of Future
by Kiri no Kandy
Summary: Naruto takes his teammates back in time when they’re on the brink of death and finds that they’re in a time at least four years before his father became Hokage! What’ll happen? R
1. Prologue

Hey, I know I've got another story up and another that's been on a very long Hiatus for the past year or so, but I got this idea and couldn't resist! And yes, before anyone comments on this, I got the idea for the first chapter while reading 'Over Again by Azusa-Angel, So please don't be mad at me! I'm very impulsive and I own nothing!!

+++ Info +++

Summary: Naruto takes his teammates back in time when they're on the brink of death and finds that they're in a time at least four years before his father became Hokage! What'll happen? R&R

Rating: M just to be safe.

Warnings: Sannin!Team7. Third Great War time!! Naruto made them younger so they're now 12! Naruto level swearing. Blood. Character death. Future adult content. The team picked up habbits from their sensei!

Pairings: MinaKushi. SakuKaka… maybe. Possibly JiraTsu. Maybe NaruKure or NaruAnko, or NaruOC. SasuRin or SasuKure. May have Obito live with him going with Anko or Rin, undecided yet. All the maybes will have a vote!

+++ Key +++

"Bah!" talking.

'Bah!' jinchuuriki speaking to demon.

'_Bah!'_ thoughts.

"_Bah!"_ emphasis, sarcastic, or extremely pissed speaker.

"**Bah!"** demon or pissed of jinchuuriki speaking.

'_**Bah!'**_ demon thinking.

"Bah!" important note or… an overly dramatic emphasis!

+++ Prologue +++

Three bloodied young adults lied on the floor on the brink of death. Gashes, cuts, bruises, fractures, almost all types of physical damage was done to them. They were surrounded by well over a hundred dead bodies, seven of which Akatsuki members and another a co-founder of Konoha - Madara of the Uchiha clan.

"I… I c-can't bel-le-eive it's g-gonna end like- …this," the lone female managed to croak out as she hacked out blood. She was about eighteen and had bubblegum pink hair that could be more counted as red with the way the sun darkens it or the blood that soaked her locks. A normally cute face covered with spots of mud and blood with a blue diamond on her forehead and usually bright green eyes that were now so dark and dull almost completely lifeless it could be considered a dark, stormy and faded color of a blade of grass under stormy clouds and rain. Her hiate holding her hair back and out of her face.

Uchiha Sasuke, Namikaze Naruto, and Haruno Sakura had just finished their final battle to avenge Konoha with the Akatsuki and their followers, not to mention the ending where Naruto had somehow managed to engage Uchiha Madara in a awe-inspiring fight to the death, ther true reason for the Kyuubi attack and Uchiha Massacre.

Once Sasuke had found that out, he went straight back to Konoha. Team 7 were the new Sannin, Sakura the new Slug Princess, Sasuke the Snake Master, and Naruto being the Toad Sage. Each of them trained by the previous Sannin and can do everything and more that the past ones could do, they could all even do their original sensei's summoning of Pakkun, who had taken a liking to them and had gotten permission from the Inu clan's boss summoning, who had also taken a liking to them and let them summon him as they wished.

Sakura Haruno, the main medic and tracker of the team. Trained by the Godaime of Konoga, has all the skills of her sensei and more. She is a Taijutsu/Genjutsu Type, being dual trained with Naruto by both Toad and Slug Sannin. Yes, she knows basic seals and Kenjutsu from Jiraiya while Naruto now has the chakra control of a medic of Sakura's caliber and learned the super strength and basic medics from Tsunade.

Sasuke Uchiha, the last of the Uchiha clan, main Genjutsu user and interrogator of the team. Once was a S-class nukenin at the age of 13-16. Previously trained by Orochimaru the Snake Sannin, but killed him before he could take over his body. He assembled Team Hebi, consisting of several of Oro-teme's (Naruto's name for the snake) old lackeys. Was finally back in Konoha when Naruto finally proved he could get stronger in Konoha by beating him with little to no effort with minor help from Kakashi and Sakura.

Namikake Uzumaki Naruto, jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi and son of the Yondaime Hokage. He is the best at stealth, seals, and shape/chakra manipulation. He was trained by Jiaiya the Toad Sannin, and is the un-official leader of the Sannin GX and was to be the next Hokage before Konoha's destruction. He perfected the Hiraishin and has made several variations to the Rasengan, both his father's techniques and has taken 'Sage Chakra' to the next level.

This Team 7, the new Sannin, has perfect teamwork and also a very close friendship. All of them are stronger than all their sensei together and the best nin Konoha has known.

"NO! BUT WE-!!!" Naruto began, going out of his stoic and level headed 'Leader Mode' as his teammates and everyone else called it and going into his normal self that he was only on when at home and with friends like the Kazekage and other allies.

Naruto looked like a carbon copy to the Yondaime. Long blond hair that reached his shoulders and framed his face, soft features and sky blue eyes, his whiskers long since gone with age, and a paler complexion to when he was child, not spending all his time outside helps in that category, and a nice build along with a height of 5'9", still being rather short but being the same height as the Hokage when he died. Well, that's what he would look like if he hadn't been in his current state. Blond hair that should be considered red with the blood, sky colored eyes more like a stormy gray with a dullness in them that matched his teammates, and mud and blood smeared over his face with blood dripping from a gash above his left eyebrow, partially blinding him. He had long since lost his hiate during the battle so no point in holding more his hair out of the way for him, ne?

"Naruto!" Sakura whispered, being most fragile out of the three at the moment, "This is our last moment together, don't ruin it with your ranting," her voice was soft and strained, obviously in pain.

There was a minute of silence before Sasuke did his usual "Hn," being too cool for the sappy stuff or the denial that Sakura and Naruto were doing respectively.

His black hair had a red tint to it, shining with blood and dull black eyes staring up towards the cloudy sky blankly. He, too, had mud and blood smeared over his face with his hiate around his forehead to keep the hair from dropping into his face with naturally pale skin.

Naruto and Sakura stopped and sweat dropped at him.

"N… no," Naruto whispered and the two slowly looked at him as he closed his eyes and went completely still. Sakura and Sasuke began to worry, thinking he had died, when he opened his eyes slowly, having a red outline to it and his blue eyes now being amber colored with rectangles for pupils. "This is out last chance. If we go back too far, we could end up somewhere but it'll be in a place of great importance. This is a time-travel jutsu that my father had started and I'd finished," he told them, "It'll take us to the same time, but if we go back too far we could land anywhere, including apart from each other. It'll be of a place of great importance." he said softly as he painfully brought his arms up, starting a slow yet long line of seals, "We'll be back in our twelve year old bodies no matter how far we go,"

"Na… Ru… to," Sakura said with a wince, taken a back. Time travel? Wha?

"Dobe? Wha… do you mean? Wh-what are you… doing?" Sasuke gasped out, clearly thinking it wasn't possible. Both their eyes widened as their bodies and clothes shrank and their injuries faded into time before a tear appeared above them.

"Naruto," Sakura breathed, knowing they had a chance with this, "Arigatou," and they were all pulled inward, feeling like they were being ripped apart, and then a flash of gold before they were enveloped into darkness.

+++ End +++

Well? What do ya think? Oh, and flames will be used to heat dishwater!!


	2. Just When Exactly Are We?

Summary: Naruto takes his teammates back in time when they're on the brink of death and finds that they're in a time at least four years before his father became Hokage! What'll happen? R&R

Rating: M just to be safe.

Warnings: Sannin!Team7. Third Great War time!! Naruto made them younger so they're now 12! Naruto level swearing. Blood. Character death. Future adult content. The team picked up habbits from their sensei!

Pairings: MinaKushi. SakuKaka… maybe. Possibly JiraTsu. Maybe NaruKure or NaruAnko, or NaruOC. SasuRin or SasuKure. May have Obito live with him going with Anko or Rin, undecided depending on who goes with Naruto and Susuke. All the maybes will have a vote!

+++ Key +++

"Bah!" talking.

'Bah!' jinchuuriki speaking to demon.

'_Bah!'_ thoughts.

"_Bah!"_ emphasis, sarcastic, or extremely pissed speaker.

"**Bah!"** demon or pissed of jinchuuriki speaking.

'_**Bah!'**_ demon thinking.

"Bah!" important note or… an overly dramatic emphasis!

+++ Chapter 1: Just… when exactly are we? +++

Haruno Sakura would be lying if she said she wasn't in pain and didn't know where she was. She would be completely honest if she said she wanted to be anywhere but where she currently found herself at and even more honest to say that just thinking of where she was at made her want to break where she lay… the exact spot her love had died.

She was on the border of Suna and River country. At the small river that separated the area, lying in the exact spot that her love, Subaku no Gaara had died, the exact spot she'd found his body after he didn't get to the meeting he was scheduled to have in Konoha with Naruto and Tsunade to discuss the war.

Swallowing thickly, she closed her eyes tightly to block out the tears at the pain of loss and slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, opening her eyes slowly. The green eyes were back to their natural glow but there was a dull, painful shine to it that showed she was ready, begging to let her emotions on the topic go.

She slowly reached up and pulled her hiate from her hair, shaking the pink locks that were still short but now back to it's pale color of its youth before rolling away from the spot to look at the green and healthy grass.

Smiling rather bitterly she slowly dug a hole, discarded her hiate into it, and set flame to it before once again covering the spot with dirt and using her natural affinity with earth to make the make the grass re-grow, placing a seed from her kunai pouch in after and making a flower grow, a desert rose like she'd done after coming back and marking her loves place of death.

She shook her head quickly, that happened a year and a half ago and she was able to move on, besides if she was honest with her self she'd admit that the loss hit Naruto worse the her. He was like a brother to Gaara, had known him longer, and they were close enough to be considered lovers themselves if not for the fact that both had girlfriends and it was more a mutual fondness of each other, not a lover relationship but a close and unbreakable brother-hood. It was like her relationship with both her blond haired teammate and her raven haired teammate.

No, she had to be strong now, like he was strong for her, even though it was hurting Naruto to put on the strong face when he was probably suffering more than she at the fact that the man they loved wasn't even born yet. But he wouldn't die this time, not if they had anything to say about it.

She knelt by the river and looked at her reflection, her diamond was still there, so she retained her powers. A slow smile lit up her face slowly, eyes turning bright and rather mischievous. "Heh, leave it to you to make sure we keep our abilities. Isn't that right, Naruto?" she said fondly before turning towards Suna and then towards Oni, then the would be Oto, and finally towards Konoha.

She knew exactly where her teammates were going to land, but by the time she'd make it to either both would already be in Konoha, and she really wanted to se Suna, but she had to go. With a sigh she stood and shot towards Konoha, knowing she'd meet her teammates at the cave ten miles out, where they'd stayed the past few months since Konoha's destruction.

+++ Otogakure's future location +++

With a groan he pushed himself up and then glared at the surrounding forest in distaste. "Damn it! Why did I need to be here?!" he snapped at a bird, causing it to fly away quickly.

He REALLY didn't want to be here, even if it was where he ran to after leaving his friends, he hated the place. No matter the fact that it wasn't created yet and he was just in some random place in Rice country now. It was still where he'd lived most of the time, it was still Otogakure, and it was still where he'd killed the Snake Sannin.

With a scowl he stood up and immediately shot off toward Konoha to meet with his teammates, god dammit all! If he was here that meant he was further into the past than they wanted so Orochimaru was still in Konoha and now they'd have to refrain from killing the bastard!

He grit his teeth and pushed forward at a faster speed, the farther from this place he was the less tempted he'd be to kill the man when he actually saw him.

"Stupid bastard," was his hissed anger as he continued forward, absently tossing a side his hiate.

+++ Onigakure +++

He was in a hospital or a herbal shelter of some sort, that was all he knew as he slowly opened his eyes. Blinking a few times he realized that he was in a room he knew all too well. It was a room he was pained with every time he thought of his late fiancé, the room she'd given birth to his child, room 103 of the village hospital in Onigakure, one of the children rooms of the Oni hospital.

He closed his eyes to block the tears, his daughter would be two right now… or would have been if she, her mother, and the rest of the village hadn't been destroyed just a year after her birth. No one in Konoha knew that he had had a child in that village, not even Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi, Tenzo, or Sai. Not even Tsunade or Jiraiya knew, they only knew that the loss had practically killed him inside, the loss being worse than Gaara's, being his actual lover's death and a village he loved as much as his own. "Damn, I'm so sorry Shion," he whispered, chocking back a sob that he thought he'd never hear again. A sob from his own lips. He hadn't cried since Shion and Gaara had died, since a year ago. It was odd how two of his precious people had died within a week of each other, Gaara first and he'd comforted Sakura and then…. Then he got news of Oni and just broke, right in Kakashi and Tsunade's arms. And he was sure if Jiraiya hadn't died fighting Pein that he'd have cried with him just as much as he'd done in the former two's.

He vaguely noted the tears streaming his face and heard footsteps coming towards his position, the door sliding open before he was faced with the priestess, a woman who looked like a blue eyed and brown haired version of Shion.

"Ah, I see you're awake I -" the woman paused, looking concerned, "Are you alright, child?" she asked softly, walking in and closing the door behind her.

"I'm fine," he replied just as softly, wiping his eyes quickly.

"You don't sound fine," she said calmly, pausing to kneel by his bed and place a hand on his chest, eyes closed with a glowing pink hand, "Physically, you are, mentally it could be better but… emotionally, you are not fine," her eyes softened and she came closer to his head, "Why are you crying?"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "What's the date today?"

She was confused but answered, "January 4th,"

"I know, I mean the year,"

This confused her more but she answered none the less, "1974"

He nodded slowly, "My name is Namikaze Naruto and I come from the Village Hidden in Time, Tokigakure." he said quietly.

Her eyes widened and then softened more as she slowly brought him into a hug. "You're… a survivor," she said softly. See, in that year the very village the Namikaze clan derived from was destroyed, on the third of January, just the day before now.

The Namikaze clan head's sister had moved to Konoha and had died giving birth to Minato after her husband had died in battle a month before, leaving Minato to not even know that he came from Tokigakure, that he had family there. But, Minato had the clan scrolls and that's how he learned about his blood line so quickly. And, as it turned out, the ultra healing didn't come from the Kyuubi, it came from his father's side of the family.

"Yeah," he whispered, "What's your name?"

"Miroku, I am the priestess of Onigakure no Sato," she spoke softly, comfortingly, "Where were you heading?"

"To Konoha," he replied softly.

"Oh?" there was a curious light to her voice.

"Yeah, my father's sister… she moved there with her husband before I was born and my father said that he hadn't heard of her since about five years before I was. I'm hoping that if I go there…" he trailed off uncertainly as he pulled out of the hug.

"That she'll be there safe and well," she finished quietly, nodding slowly.

"Yeah," he said quietly.

"When we found you, your clothes were covered in blood and there were slashes through the fabric, but you were unharmed," she began, looking a bit confused as she continued, "But you were also completely exhausted, that was two hours ago, and now you're already better, your chakra's already back."

"I have a lot of chakra, Miro-san. And I have the Namikaze bloodline, I used more chakra to seal up my wounds quickly, so I could get to Konoha without dying of blood loss," he took a deep breath, "I must have used more than I thought when I was fighting,"

"You… you're a ninja?" she said, looking rather shocked at that.

Naruto had innocent eyes, not holding a bit of impurity in them as he blinked at her, sky blue eyes looking confused. "Yeah, why?" he tilted his head to the side.

"Well ninja, even those who don't seem so, usually have a strong taint to their auras, but you… you have none. Your soul is completely pure, not a taint that I can sense… not something I would expect from someone who kills, even if for a good cause," Miroku said quietly, a sad smile on her face as she looked at him. "You're spirit is strong, that I can tell, your soul pure and untainted, and your heart whole despite what's happened… I believe you will be a great ninja some day, Naruto-kun," she smiled brightly at him. "You'd make an exceptional priest, too."

He blushed and rubbed his head sheepishly, mumbling incoherently under his breath. After a minute he looked up with a smile, "So, um, when can I leave?" he asked carefully.

"Now if you'd like, but you might want different clothes," she said and smirked slightly when he went bright red and glanced at the baggy pants that he knew were not his and he was shirtless. "I'll got get you some and your weapons, I thought they were just for self defense or a friend's," she smiled fondly before standing and walking out, leaving him to mutter to himself furiously.

She gave him a black battle kimono with a blood red obi that she said was standard Oni-nin wear and he thanked her while sealing his other things into seals on his arms that she hadn't noticed before and then tying an equally red sash around his waist to hold his katana, making it look like it was strewn through his obi instead.

Giving a respectful bow and a 'Arigatou, Miro-san,' he left, leaving a beaming Miroku with her stammering guards at his lack of respect. But, as anyone who knew Naruto would guess, he did _not_ do formalities and gave anyone likeable a nickname…. Sometimes a not so likeable nickname, but a nickname none the less.

+++ Later +++

"Where is he!" an irate Uchiha Sasuke growled as he paced the entrance of the cave anxiously. They'd been waiting there for three hours now and it was bordering on four. They had to change their clothes and were happy they had some in scrolls or they'd have been in what seemed to be rags right now.

"I don't know, Sasu-kun, but maybe we should go look for him," Sakura suggested worriedly, it was an hour journey from both their positions at full speed but it was only a half hour journey for Naruto if he went at his full speed, which bordered on the Hiraishin! So he was about four hours late and they _knew_ it wasn't because of his lateness tendencies(yes, he got a half hour lateness trait from Kakashi, not as bad as him, but still a half hour late, even if Kakashi came three hours late to most things, still, they all got a lateness tendency from the man, actually, but only about ten minutes for Sasuke and between five and fifteen for Sakura). Whoever said bad habbits weren't contagious?

She now wore a black ninja dress that reached mid-thigh and was longsleeved with dark green spandex shorts and a dark green sash that held a ninjatou in place along with several different medical pouches attached to her waist and if you looked in the sash closely you'd find seals using a darker green colored thread that held more weapons and medicinal things.

Sasuke wore black ninja pants and a dark blue muscle shirt while he too had a sash which was blue instead of green or red, he had a kodachi slung through it with a few sealing scrolls and other ninja tools attached to his waist and belt along with several holsters and pouches and other things hidden from view. He had a chain necklace with another piece of cloth that held his brother's Akatsuki ring on it.

"I don't know, he probably used too much chakra to get us not only younger but also to let us keep our powers and send us back this far." Sasuke disagreed.

"But what if we were wrong and instead of Oni he ended up in Iwa! That's where he killed the Tsuchikage that stopped Iwa from attacking with the Akatsuki! It was important for him!" Sakura said in horror.

"Relax Kura-chan! I'm right here," they started and turned to find Naruto standing in a black battle kimono with a crimson obi that appeared to have his katana slung through it. He was staring at them rather blankly, studying them before a smile broke across his face. "Wow, did I scare you?"

The two glared at him in annoyance, "Where have you been?" they both growled at him.

He sighed, "I used too much chakra and woke up about an hour ago in Oni's hospital before…" he sighed again, "I met Shion's mother, and we talked a bit before she leant me some clothes since my others were destroyed and then let me leave." he said before telling what he told her and also the date to them.

"We could say we came from Tokigakure no Sato when we get to Konoha, I already stopped in and left some partially destroyed yet usable documents that could pass for ours and took three hiate's that were gonna be given to the graduating class before it was destroyed yesterday… I also gave them a proper burial and searched out for survivors - there was non," he told them, pulling out three medal bands with the flowery symbol that was the Toki insignia on it and passed on to each of them before pulling out three bands of cloth that used to be their colors. Red for his, green for Sakura , and of course, blue for Sasuke.

Sasuke and Naruto tied theirs around their foreheads while Sakura used hers to hold her hair back. "So, that's our plan?" Sakura said softly.

"No, you two were on a dual C-rank with our sensei, who died on the mission and when you got back you found everyone gone so you made your way towards Konoha, knowing that you had family there and then you met up with me sometime on your way. We were on the same team so we know each other well, you guys thought that I had died since you couldn't find me with the bodies and in a clearing you guys were forced to stop cause I had a kunai to your throats." Naruto smirked and they sighed, not use arguing when they knew that he could sneak up on anyone he wanted to. And he loved to flaunt that he could, too. Always had.

They set up some traps and waited till morning, taking turns sleeping before morning hit and they made their way to Konoha slowly, acting subdued like they really had stumbled on it or survived it. They were walking when Sasuke suddenly perked and reached into his pocket.

"Dobe,"

The blond looked at him curiously, "What Sasu-teme?"

"Here," he shoved a bag of something towards the blond, who brightened considerably, "I almost forgot that I'd picked that up for you," he said flatly before passing another bag to Sakura, who's eyes lit up, "I picked that up, too."

"Thanks Sasu-kun!" she chirped, pulling out a cherry and popping it into her mouth happily.

After they got back into their melancholy act they saw Konoha over the horizon and let some of it vanish and let relief fill them. It had been a year since they'd seen the village whole and at least four months since they'd seen it even standing at all.

They got to the gates.

"Halt! State your names and business!" the gate guard barked out.

"We wish to seek refuge in Konoha and possibly become ninja," Naruto said softly, stepping forward. "We come from Tokigakure," his voice was sad, subdued, and their eyes widened in shock as they looked at their hiate.

"I didn't know there were any survivors," the girl guard said softly, looking sad yet relieved that they were okay.

"I didn't either," Naruto said softly, giving a strained smile, "It was luck that my teammates were coming to Konoha because of relatives and even more luck that we met up before that," he said.

The man nodded and the girl looked at them curiously before speaking, "Names?"

"I am Haruno Sakura," the pinkette said, stepping forward, to give a nod.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the raven haired boy said, also stepping forward.

"And I'm Namikaze Naruto," the blond boy nodded deeply before looking at them curiously.

They blinked, "I knew there were Haruno in Toki, but I didn't know that there was an Uchiha, or Namikaze. I thought that Minato was from a non-existent clan." the man admitted slowly.

"Non-existent," Naruto echoed curiously before frowning, "In my village my clan is highly respected, but not well known to other countries, it makes sense that no one would know of another."

"My mother fell in love and faked her death so she could marry outside the clan," Sasuke muttered quietly, mentally wincing at his choice of story, "Her name was Shiori, the younger sister to Uchiha Mikano, the clan head at the time."

"Shiori? She was my teammate back then," the girl said, a sad look in her eyes as she thought of her friend, "A good person, and very kind, not to mention selfless," she said, nodding her head. "Your cousin is the new clan head, Fugaku-sama has a one year old so you'd be his grand uncle, and you're only about twelve," she mused before shaking her head. "Tani here will escort you to the tower," she said, gesturing to the black haired chunnin beside her. The girl was a Jounin.

The man nodded and motioned them through the gates before leading them through the village. A few nin who knew of the destruction paused to stare at them in shock. They were so young and Naruto _did_ look like a younger Minato after all, and they did have a haunted look to their eyes…

"So, how old are you guys?" the man asked them curiously, glancing at them as they walked.

"I turn thirteen in a few months," Sasuke muttered quietly.

"I myself in two," Sakura agreed.

"I turn thirteen in October," Naruto said quietly, looking off to the side, finding the ground very interesting. He didn't really like talking about his birthday as it wasn't very happy for him until he joined Team 7.

"Wow, you guys are very young," the man commented, nodding sadly. "We're here,"

The teams heads snapped up and looked up and down the red tower, blinking stupidly. "Oh," they said at the same time.

The guard sweat dropped and lead them inside. After talking to the secretary, who looked at them in surprise, they were let into the Hokage's office.

"Ah, and who might you-?" the old Hokage stopped, seeing their hiates, and sighed, sitting back tiredly, "Oh my, I thought they were all…" he shook his head in relief, "How are you feeling? None of you are injured?"

"No, Hokage-sama." Sakura said, stepping forward. "Sasu-kun and I were on a mission with our sensei when it happened, our sensei was killed in an explosion and we were already wary from watching it happen," she bit her lip and looked off to the side, remember how this had really happened to Kakashi.

Sasuke stepped forward, putting a hand on her shoulder comfortingly while Naruto put an arm around her shoulder so she could curl into him sadly.

"When we got back to the village there were bodies everywhere," Sasuke whispered softly, "But the two of us couldn't find anyone, they were all… gone. No one was alive and those who were alive were dead by the time we could even deduct what was the problem. We didn't even know Naru-baka was alive until half way here when we met up with him."

Naruto rubbed circles in Sakura's back, she was remembering their own war with the Akatsuki. "I was there and saw most of our friends die," his voice was haunted and the Hokage marveled at the boy's ability to cope, he was smiling a moment ago, after all, "I have a healing bloodline and an insane amount of chakra, but even than I was unconscious for the night after I was able to pull myself to Onigakure, my injuries were already healed because I was pumping chakra to my limbs to heal myself to not bleed to death," he took a deep breath, looking anywhere but at the Hokage, "After I woke up I spoke with the priestess and she let me leave seeing my injuries better, she also gave me these clothes and gave me her blessings," he went quiet and Sakura spoke up, looking up.

"We met him at the halfway mark from here to Toki, which just happened to be two miles off from Oni. He was already there, resting, when we startled him and a second later found kunai held to our throats," she let out a sad giggle before continuing, "we rested and came here after wards." she said softly.

"I'm sorry for your loss," the old man said, looking sad and honest.

"We wish to be ninja of Konoha, jiji, we would be grateful," Naruto said seriously, nodding deeply in respect that was completely shattered with the name. Sakura, still curled into him, sent her elbow into his side, causing him to yelp, "Itai! Kura-chan, what the hell was that for?!" he demanded, releasing her and taking a step back, staring at her in annoyance. Wow, they sure snap back fast! But no one can fake the prior emotions, so the old Hokage knew they were telling the truth.

"Don't disrespect the Hokage before he even lets us stay, baka!" she growled at him, holding her fist in a threatening way.

"She's right, dobe. You might be able to disrespect not only the priestess of Oni and all the leaders of our village, but we don't know anyone here and just because we've got family doesn't mean he'll let us stay if you disrespect the Hokage to his face like that," Sasuke agreed.

"Now you're taking fore-head's side! Dammit Teme!" Naruto shouted back.

"_What did you just call me?_" Sakura said in a soft, dangerous voice.

Naruto swallowed hard and walked backwards as the pinkette stalked towards him. "N-Now Sakura-chan, I d-didn't mean it l-like th-that, just-" he was cut off by a fist slamming into his face, making him fly backwards and crash through the wall and continue through two buildings. The Hokage's pipe fell from his lips and he stared wide-eyed at the preteen who not only looked slightly like Tsunade in posture but also in strength and with that diamond on her forehead…

He felt bad for the blond… Naruto they said his name was. He'd probably need medical treatment after that. A few ninja looked through the newly developed hole and then quickly scampered away at the look on Sakura's face. It was like when Jiraiya used to call Tsunade 'flat-chest'!

Naruto suddenly walked through the hole, holding his left cheek where he could make out a bruise that was quickly healing under it his hand. "That wasn't very nice, Kura-chan," he pouted, "You guys were ganging up on me, you know how impulsive I am," Naruto's voice was laced with betrayal and Sakura instantly snapped out of her anger and sped up the healing rate before stepping back sheepishly.

"Gomen Naru-baka, but I'm just as impulsive as you and… I've always been a bit self-conscious of my forehead." she said, chuckling awkwardly before becoming seriously and hitting him upside the head, "But you shouldn't disrespect the Hokage like that!"

"Actually, it's quite alright," Sarutobi spoke up, "Even my son doesn't call me that in public, it would be nice if someone, even if I didn't know them, dropped the formalities. They never do, no matter how much I tell them to," he smiled at the looks Sasuke and Sakura gave him, they were dubious and incredulous before they looked at Naruto, who was grinning victoriously. "But really, I'm not that old."

Naruto gave him a deadpanned look.

"No, really!" the Hokage snapped, "I'm only fourty-four!" Naruto continued to look at him and he scowled, "Fine! Have it your way!" he growled irritably while Naruto grinned in triumph.

"So, can we stay jij? And be ninja?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"Yes, but I need to know your names and ranks," Hiruzen sighed, (I'm not sure whether to call him the Third, Hokage, Sandaime, Hiruzen, or Sarutobi so yeah… I'll use them whenever) pulling out three registration forms.

"My name is Namikaze Naruto," the blond said, giving a nod.

"Haruno Sakura!" the pinkette chirped, pulling out a cherry and eating it happily.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the raven was speaking in his usual monotone.

"But…"

"Yeah, yea, it's only known about the Haruno and you didn't know that the Namikaze still existed and that an Uchiha lived outside the village, geesh," Naruto cut him off, scoffing before giving their story.

"So, that makes you the clan heiress to the Haruno clan, you the Namikaze clan heir, and you the closest cousin to the Uchiha clan head," Sarutobi said, gesturing to each of them in turn.

"Hai, Hokage-sama/jij," the team said at the same time as the Sandaime scribbled out forms and such. "Rank?"

"Well, we never took the Chunnin exams so we're still Genin but we were already taking B rank missions without sensei supervising us!" Sakura chirped, giving a victory sign as once again the pipe clattered to the desk.

"Genin… doing unsupervised… B rank missions?" the third said slowly, picking up his pipe for the third time in that discussion.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted in agreement.

"That's nothing short of amazing. When did you graduate?"

"Two years ago," Naruto pitched in, pulling out some candy and chewing on it absently.

"Hm… I guess I'll let you have a joint team with Minato… I guess he's the family you were talking about. His mother died in child birth but seeing as you're her brother's son that would make you cousins, no?" The Hokage asked Naruto, who tensed slightly before nodding slowly.

"I heard of him a few times while in here already, but it's sad to hear that my aunt died before I was even born," he said, nodding curtly.

"Right, so for living arrangements we have to meet with the Haruno clan head of Konoha, Fugaku-san, and Minato-san, how would that be with you guys?" the Hokage said, already gesturing to his hidden Anbu.

"That would be okay, Hokage-jiji." Naruto grinned.

"I'm not that old!" the Hokage snapped.

"You're old by ninja standards," the smirk didn't leave Naruto's face and the banter continued with the future Slug Princess and Snake Master watching with sweat drops for at least twenty minutes.

When the door opened to reveal Haruno Sujiatsu, Uchiha Fugaku, and Namikaze Minato, they were still going at it and didn't notice anyone there.

" For the last time! I'm not that old!" The Hokage finally shouted.

"You are old, jij! And your hair is graying to prove it!" Naruto shouted back and the three sweat dropped, glancing at the pink haired girl and raven haired boy, who were twitching and obviously refraining from killing their blond friend.

"That means nothing!" Sarutobi growled, "It could be from stress!"

"But you already admitted that you're fourty-fou -!" Sakura finally got sick of it and hit the blond up-side the head so hard he flew through the floor.

"SHUT UP, BAKA!!!!" she shouted as she did it before sweat dropping as he went through the floor and calling down sheepishly. "Gomen Naruto!"

"Ugh, it's alright Kura-chan… you only broke my arm…" was the groaned reply and she turned bright red.

"Gomen!" she called again, she only got a groan in response. She winced and looked up to find the five other men in the room staring at her, well, Sasuke was staring in bemusement and the others in shock but… still!

She looked at her grandfather, who still looked so young now, bright red hair and emerald greed eyes with the tell-tale white circle at the base of his brown sleeve with dark red pants and ninja sandals along with a hiate tied around his forehead.

Then at Sasuke's father. She could tell that Itachi got most of his looks from him but that Sasuke probably got his from his mother. Surprised obsidian eyes stared right back at her, skin slightly paler than when he'd first entered the office. He wore the standard Jounin wear but in blue and red, not blue and green.

She shot a short glare at the Hokage, who laughed weakly, "It's your fault that you guys were in a shouting match, Hokage-sama, you started it," she said before turning to look at the last one in the room: Naruto's father.

She was surprised at how much the two looked a like and wondered if Naruto got _any_ of his looks from his mother, the two were just like everyone always said! Mini-Clones! Blond hair the color of the sun falling to his shoulders and framing his face nicely with soft features, bright and happy sky blue eyes along with a slightly tanned face with little to no baby fat.

"Erm, you wanted to see us, Hokage-sama?" Minato said awkwardly, coughing into his fist. Oh my God! Even their voices were similar, nearly identical! Musical like he'd rather be laughing then being serious, powerful like a raging storm yet soft like a summer's breeze, and completely calm with an undertone of lazy.

"Yes, I present you-" the third was cut off as Naruto burst into the office once more, looking rather haggard, long blond hair (his age changed, their hair and such stayed basically the same) that was normally spiked up and hazardous was even more disheveled and he was nursing his arm rather gingerly while glaring at his female teammate.

"You couldn't have hit jiji? Why'd you have to hit me!" he demanded, shooting a glare at the Hokage that made them all flinch.

"Well, he's the Hokage and besides, I trusted you'd survive more so than he," she said curtly. "Not everyone can have your psycho healing factor, ne Naru-baka?" she said sheepishly.

"Yeah yeah, I'm sure that's exactly what you were thinking when you hit me, Kura-chan," he deadpanned and she turned bright red.

"Sh-shut up!" she shouted.

"Erm, yeah, this is Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Namikaze Naruto, the last survivors of the Toki massacre that we investigated this morning." the Hokage interrupted.

Everyone went silent as the three men turned to stare at the three pre-teens in front of them, Sujiatsu curiously, having known of the Haruno branch in Toki already, Fugaku in disbelief, and Minato in pure shock.

"B-But I don't have a-any relative," he stammered in shock, studying Naruto warily.

"The Namikaze clan are a highly respected clan in our village," Sasuke said, knowing Naruto wouldn't say anything as he was staring openly at his father, finally seeing how much the two really looked alike through something not pictures. Even their freaking postures were the same! "But it's not well known in other countries, so it makes sense that no one here knew of it. We came here because we had family here, or we've been told," he was sad, they could tell.

"I wasn't aware that there were any other Uchiha outside of Konoha," Fugaku finally said coldly after a tense silence that fell as Minato and Naruto met eyes and stared for a minute. Every head turned towards him slowly.

"My mother fell in love and faked her death so she'd be able to marry outside of the clan," Sasuke muttered, looking off to the side. "Her name was Shiori, your father's younger sister,"

"Shiori-Imou-ba?" a strange sadness filled the head's eyes before he nodded slowly, "So, you're my first cousin, my closest cousin," he said slowly.

"That's right," Sasuke said, nodding curtly.

"My father had a younger sister who moved to Konoha," Naruto said slowly and Minato's head snapped back up to look at him, "Her name was Kyoko, we lost contact to her around nineteen years ago, before I was born, so I wasn't sure if she was still alive or if she went missing, Konoha was my only chance to have a place to stay, I'm just happy that…" he closed his eyes tightly, clenching his fists and taking a deep breath, "That at least one of them is still alive,"

"My mother's dead," Minato whispered, looking away. Naruto had to be talking about his mother, right?

"I know that, but you're not," Naruto replied quietly, smiling in reassurance as Minato looked at him, blinking a few times before a smile broke his face. He just might get along with this kid.

"Hokage-sama, I request to take Naruto-kun in," Minato said seriously.

"I was hoping you'd say that," the Hokage smiled at them, passing him the record he'd gotten from the group on Naruto. Minato read it and went pale, looking at his new cousin in concern.

"you… were there… when the massacre happened?" he said slowly and all eyes turned to the boy, who flinched painfully, looking away with his eyes closed and muttering under his breath incoherently.

"Naruto?" Sakura said anxiously, putting a hand on his shoulder. He tensed before sighing and giving a weak smile.

"I'm fine, just… not all the way," he said with a pained look.

"We seriously need to talk to you about this later," Sasuke sighed, shaking his head tiredly. "You bottle things up way too much, dobe."

"Shut up, teme!" Naruto hissed angrily, glaring at the boy, who met it head on with his own death glare.

"What? Afraid people will start worrying for you?" he snapped back.

Naruto turned red and looked down angrily, muttering. "Just shut up, Sasuke," he whispered quietly, looking back up at him with his sky blue eyes glittering with tears that refused to fall and causing both Sasuke and Sakura to freeze in shock. Was he actually going to cry? After all this time? What happened that made him so… like this?

"You're having nightmares again, aren't you?" Sakura asked after a minute of no one speaking.

Naruto glared at her, "No. I am not having nightmares again," he seethed, the trio seemingly lost in their own little world.

"Ahem," the Third coughed and they snapped to attention, glaring at each other. "Well, Naruto-kun, you'll be staying with Minato-san," he said, gesturing to the frozen blond, who was watching the interaction intently and in concern. Nightmares? Bottling things up? Wha?

"Hai, jij." Naruto nodded, looking back down as the discussions progressed for a few more minutes and soon it was decided that they would join up with Team Minato for a while until they could get a different sensei and that Sakura would be staying with the others of the Haruno clan while Sasuke would stay with Fugaku and his wife.

+++ End +++

Wow, that was a long chapter, ne? Don't hate me for having Naruto be rather emotional and for having Sasuke being so OOC or complain about one being too powerful or whatever else you may find to complain about, I only pay attention to poll results, constructive critsicm, and the occassional complement!

Flames will be used to ignite the Flames of Youth within younger Gai! Beware of the Green Beast!! O/.\O


	3. New Homes, Old Nightmares

Summary: Naruto takes his teammates back in time when they're on the brink of death and finds that they're in a time at least four years before his father became Hokage! What'll happen? R&R

Rating: M to be safe.

Warnings: Sannin!Team7. Third Great War time!! Naruto made them younger so they're now 12! Naruto level swearing. Blood. Character death. Future adult content. The team picked up habits from their sensei!

Pairings: MinaKushi. Others... poll at the bottom of chapter!!!

+++ Key +++

"Bah!" talking.

'Bah!' jinchuuriki speaking to demon.

_'Bah!'_ thought.

"_Bah!" _emphasis, sarcastic, or extremely pissed speaker.

"**Bah!"** demon or pissed off jinchuuriki speaking.

**'Bah!'** demon thinking.

"Bah!" important not or... and overly dramatic emphasis!!

+++ Chapter 2: New Homes, Old Nightmares +++

There was an awkward silence as they sat there in the kitchen, staring into identical blue eyes across the table, each lost in their own thoughts. "So..." they began at the same time and paused just the same, furrowing their eyebrows at each other in an almost scarily identical expression of confusion. They couldn't really make conversation if they talked at the same time, right?

"Erm, do you want me to make us some lunch? Or we could go around town or something..." the younger blond said uncomfortably.

"Um... yeah, yeah, we could do that. Kashi-kun should be home by then. He lives here at the compound with me, and you now, by the way." Minato said, biting his lip just as uncomfortably.

"Really? Where is he? And who is he for that matter?" Naruto asked curiously, inwardly laughing at the thought of seeing a younger version of his teacher.

"He's my student but he's a Chunnin so he's on a mission with his teammates while I had to get some things done. In fact, I just got back a few hours before I was called to the office to meet you." Minato smiled easily, the tense atmosphere breaking as he stood up, taking his cup of coffee and dumping the remains of it in the sink, having only drank about half before letting it get cold. And he hated cold coffee. Naruto had had some orange juice, commenting idly before they had sat down, thinking and just staring at each other, about how messy the place was. That had made the older blond turn a bit red, muttering something under his breath before he just said he would clean up later.

Naruto downed the rest of his cup and also put it in the sink, stretching and absently throwing some trash in the garbage can. In actuality, the place wasn't that messy, cleaner than Naruto's first apartment had been, but being a father had caused him to... get cleaner, so to speak, and his training really helped in that aspect of hygiene that didn't just involve his body's health, but also his environment.

"So, what are we doing?" the younger asked casually as they walked out, actually curious.

Minato paused thoughtfully before speaking, "Well, I was thinking we could get you some clothes since I hear that's all you have, and then we can stop at Ichiraku's for lunch, and I'll show you around town after. How's that sound?"

"Okay," Naruto agreed and the next few hours was spent laughing at each other as they first got some new clothes for both of them, Minato's being ruined in duty and such and Naruto's just being destroyed in the course of time, before they had stopped at Ichiraku's, than just walked around, meeting people here and there, getting to know the people. They'd met with Sasuke and Sakura, who were being shown around by an irate Uchiha that he soon found was his father's other student, the boy he'd heard about from Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, and a sweet girl by the name of Kaori, who was chatting idly with Sasuke, both completely ignoring the ranting Obito.

The boy was, in fact, ranting on about how Sasuke was just as bad as Kakashi when they'd shown up. Naruto didn't really talk to the other boy yet, pretty much it was a mutual understanding, Obito afraid of having another ass hole in his life and Naruto afraid of becoming _too_ attached to someone who's death may be inevitable by the end of November, when Obito would be killed. He'd had suffered enough loss in his life, after all, in fact, the whole team had.

Minato seemed intent to get to know him, and he was just as intent to use all the time he could with his father as possible, trying to get rid of Madara before the Akatsuki's war could happen with his teammates and then they'd be content with just staying here in the past. But before that, they had to kill Madara. Even if it killed them, they had to.

+++ A few hours ago +++

Two pairs of obsidian eyes glowered at each other menacingly. They did _not_ like each other, not one bit. They were so caught up in glaring that they didn't even ask why they were called into the room. A few words exchanged between the two and they hated each other, no questions asked, they just did.

Fugaku twitched after a moment of intense glaring before clearing his throat, causing both teens to jump in surprise, they'd forgotten he was there, typical. "Obito, this is Sasuke, he's a survivor of Toki and your cousin, I want you to show him around. Answer any questions he has and Sasuke," he waited for the preteen to turn his gaze to him, "Stop antagonizing Obito. He's a bit impulsive."

The two boys glared at each other before glaring at the Head of the Uchiha clan iritably, pointing at each other and saying, at the same time, "Why do I have to spend the day with him?" well, Obito shouted it, but the fact that the stoic boy from the office said it as well was shocking in and of itself. Seeing as he only seemed to show any emotion at all when with his friends.

"Because, I have a meeting in an hour and you are the only one home from a mission other than Minato on your team and he's showing his cousin around." Fugaku said coolly. He obviously didn't like Minato very much, Sasuke mused vaguely before sighing and nodding in resignation and following a dejected looking Obito out the door.

After a rather vague tour of the compound they were in the village and just walking around. "Do you know where I could get some clothes?" Sasuke asked boredly, slouching in a way no Uchiha should, almost mirrored by Obito, who glanced at him uninterested.

"We've been out for a few hours, lets get something to eat first," he said, just as bored if not more. He was gonna see if he could get a mission with Minato-sensei since his teammates were gone, but _noo_ he had to show a Kakashi copy-cat around the village. Though... the older boy acted more open and stuff, but he was still trying to seem cool, not cold, but he was trying to be cool, just like Kakashi.

"Hm, is there a place we could get ramen?" the other boy said and Obito did a retake. Someone who acted like this liked ramen! Gods the world was coming to an end. Next it'll be Kakashi who actually enjoys team meetings! Sasuke saw his look and explained, "If you spend enough time with Naruto, you learn to like the stuff after having it every Thursday and Tuesday for the past four years, and it's Tuesday today, so this works."

"Oh? You eat ramen because your teammate makes you guys eat it every Tuesday and Thursday? That's just like Minato-sensei!" Obito said, brightening up at the thought of his sensei.

"Hm, that's Naruto's uncle. We met him this morning at the tower," the other boy said, stoicly.

"See, you're just like Kakashi! Think you're so cool!" Obito exclaimed suddenly, angrily.

"Hn," was Sasuke's only reply to this.

+++ Haruno District: right after meeting at the tower +++

"Do you think I should make breakfast?" Sakura asked kindly as they entered through the door. She was happy to have her family back, and she'd be damned if she didn't use every minute of spare time she had with it.

"Okay, do you want any help?" her grandfather now uncle asked curiously, pulling off his sandals with Sakura.

"Oh, thanks," she beamed, "You should see it when Naruto or Sasuke cook, they always argue about who does what and get into a flour fight or something of the sort," she giggled, remembering the thoughts as she was shown around the house before they entered the kitchen. It was only 8 o'clock, after all, so might as well make the clan breakfast. "How many people are here?"

"The clan's not that big and it's mostly a civilian clan, there are about twenty people in total with three shinobi and two kunoichi," he paused and gave her glance, "Or three kunoichi, more like it." he offered a kind smile to her before they set about to make enough for the clan.

About thirty minutes later, about ten members were standing there blinking in surprise and the other nine were sitting at the table cheerfully. "I take it you guys don't eat together much?" Sakura frowned. In the future the clan was so close that they ate dinner every night together.

"Never really any time and we're not neccassarily good with cooking..." Sujiatsu said sheepishly.

"Though you cook?" Sakura said, nodding.

"Yeah, but I never get the time to do any of it and the clan has been a bit shaky since my grandfather died and my father took over. Sadistic man if I never saw one," the red haired man explained as they sat down.

"Who's this, Sujiatsu-kun?" a nice woman with light brown hair asked, placing a small child with a pink tuft of hair into a highchair. This caught everyone's interest as they turned to look at Sakura, who did in fact, look like the common Haruno female, pink hair and light tan to her face, though her hair was considerably darker, but that was the effect the sun had on all of their hair, turned it darker.

"This is Sakura, the heir to the Haruno clan in Tokigakure," Sujiatsu said, steapling his fingers together and closing his eyes solemnly as all chatter stopped and they looked at Sakura in sympathy as she looked away, a sad glint to her once bright eyes.

"No questions, please. I don't want to talk about it," she said quietly. And she didn't, it made her think of Konoha in the future, her Konoha before it was destroyed, when she, Naruto, and Sasuke were the new Sannin for one short year of happiness before it fell apart in war.

"We are sorry, Sakura-sama," one of the men said sheepishly, raising his hands in defense.

Sakura shot to her feet, slamming her fist on the table. "No need to apologize for nothing but if you call me that again I _will_ make you regret it," she seethed. She didn't like it when people pointed out that she was the heiress to the clan, and besides, her grandfather was head and she didn't want to be at all at the moment. "Beside, Sujiatsu-otoo-ji is the head, not me, and besides..." she looked away, "I don't want to be the head of the clan, never had, never will, too much pressure and way too many formalities for my liking."

They stared at her for a moment like she had grown a second head, man, she had one temper. "Erm, what would you do if we did call you '-sama', Sakura-san?" a small woman said meekly, raising her hand in a weak gesture to get her attention.

Sakura smiled sweetly at her and pointed at her new uncle, "Ask him, he saw what I did to my teammate earlier,"

They looked at Sujiatsu, who paled dramatically and shook his head, "Just... don't be near any walls... or floors... or anything you could fly through for that matter. She sent her teammate through all the seven floors of the Hokage tower from Hokage-sama's office," he said weakly and they looked at Sakura, who was casually eating her rice, in a new light. One of respect and awe.

They ate with making small talk and getting to know their newest clan member and found she was a very likeable person, so when the question came up, they jumped at the chance, "Ne, can someone show me around Konoha, and show me where the ramen stand is at lunch so I can meet with my teammate?" the newest member pitched in as they sat in the living room together for the usual Tuesday Talk, as she called it that the clan gets together and shared their week with the group.

"I wanna do it!" a small voice pitched in a small girl of around eleven burst past a few older adults. She had a Konoha hiate around her forehead and had ocean blue eyes to go with that same light pink hair that Sakura had before she spent most of her time in the sun. She wore a similar outfit to Sakura's from her Gennin days only the dress was shorter and in blue with the tell-tale Haruno ring in green at the bottom of it and on the sleeves, which were also different from Sakura's being long sleeved.

"Okay, what's your name?" Sakura asked kindly, finding that the girl was about two inches shorter than her.

"Me, I'm Kaori, I just became a Genin two months ago, my sensei is Uzumaki Kushina, she's really cool. I'll take you to meet her later because I've got a team meeting tonight at seven," she babbled on excitedly as she lead the other girl around town. They stopped and got some clothes at a non-descript store and then found themselves at the ramen shop. Sasuke and a boy that looked like a darker version of Naruto were glaring at each other rather menacingly as they sat down.

"Hey Sasu-kun, is Naru-baka here yet?" she asked as she placed her order. She almost said 'the usual' but caught herself before she said it.

"No, but I expect them to come here soon." Sasuke said rather coolly, still glaring at Obito. "The dobe is way more bearable than this idiot. At least Naruto has a reason from all the stress the village put on him, but this guys my family and he's such an idiot," he seethed to her.

She brought up a hand and brushed it through his hair comfortingly, smiling kindly, "Hey now, Sasu-kun! Give him a chance, he can't be that bad." Sakura reached over and held out a hand, "Hello, my name is Haruno Sakura, and what's your name, Uchiha-san?" she asked politely.

The boy grinned and adjusted his goggled before reaching over and giving her hand a polite shake, "Uchiha Obito, at your service!" he announced rather loudly.

Sakura smiled brightly, it reminded her of Naruto pre-Gennin days. "Don't mind Sasu-kun, he's a bit... cold to people he doesn't know. But when you know each other better he might become more friendly," she assure him.

"Might?" Obito echoed dubiously.

"Yeah, it took like... three years for him to open up to me and Naruto, and we've been friends for years," Sakura said, shrugging before taking a bite of her ramen.

"Hey, you guys are already here!" another loud voice said happily and they turned to find Naruto grinning with Minato smiling in amusement.

"How'd you all know where to go?" the older blond asked in bemusement.

Both Sasuke and Sakura gave Naruto a pointed look as the two sat down on either side of the group, "It's a thing he made sensei agree to. Ramen for lunch with the team every Tuesday and Thursday," Sakura said before going back to her food and talking with Kaori and Obito.

The two blonds studied the menu for a moment before announcing together, "One Miso Pork Ramen, please!" they stopped and stared from the other side of the counter at each other before shaking their heads and turning to talk to one of the people there. Naruto chatted Kaori up while Minato talked to Obito, who once again began ranting about Sasuke being like Kakashi.

After they split up for the day, Naruto and Minato got back to the compound, Sakura and Kaori went to train until 7 o'clock, where they'd meet with the younger girl's teammates, and Sasuke and Obito went to find a store that sold Shinobi wear.

+++ Later +++

"So, when is your sensei coming again?" Sakura asked blandly as she leant against the tree boredly, twirling a kunai blandly as she looked to the three Genin. Kaori was there, of course, along with another girl and a boy.

The girl had black hair and green eyes and wore a blue sleeveless turtleneck with black ninja pants and the average blue shinobi sandals. She wore her hiate around her forehead and had a moon clip in her hair to hold her bangs out of her face. Her hair went to her shoulders and her name was Yakushi Shima. Kobuto's aunt.

The boy looked sort of like Naruto but his hair was shorter and more of a golden color than a sunny color, he had a slightly exotic look to him with his wild purple eyes and dark tanned skin. He wore a red muscle shirt under a blue haori that reminded her of Naruto's in the future with black ninja pants similar to his teammate's but his had tape at the bottom and her wore the standard shinobi sandals. He had a katana strapped to his waist and his name was Yamamoto Shio.

"She's usually on time, but she probably had a meeting or something..."

They heard shouting in the distance and the team sweatdropped as Sakura blinked a few times.

"Or maybe she just met up with Namikaze," Shio said blandly.

"WELL MAYBE IF YOU'D HAVE JUST WATCHED WHERE YOU STORE YOUR KUNAI YOU WOULDN'T HAVE SHOWN UP IN MY HOUSE USING YOUR STUPID FLASH TECHNIQUE OF YOURS!!!" A woman's voice rang through the air. It was a soft and melodic voice, but with her anger it was like a raging storm, kinda like Naruto's when he was angry.

"NOT MY FAULT YOU STOLE ONE OF MY KUNAI!! I WAS TRYING TO RECOVER ALL OF THEM!!" Minato's voice shouted back angrily.

"NOW YOU'RE SAYING IT'S MY FAULT!!" the woman's voice replied.

"WELL MAYBE IF YOU-"

The team sweatdropped when they heard the younger version of Minato's voice cut him off with an annoyed snarl, "WILL YOU GUYS SHUT UP!?!? YOU'RE ACTING LIKE A BUNCH OF CHILDREN! SO JUST KISS OR SOMETHING ALREADY!!"

"WHY THE HELL WOULD I KISS HIM/HER!?!?!" two voices shouted as a pissed and rather red faced Minato walked into the open followed by an irate looking Naruto and a flustered and angry woman.

She had bright, ocean blue/green eyes with a pale complexion along with a shock of blood red hair that reached her shoulders. She wore orange pants with an orange tube top over a sleeveless fishnet shirt. Add to that she also had a pair of white gloves that reached her elbow that had orange cuffs. Strapped to her back was two kodachi in obsidian sheafs and her hiate was around her waist as a belt with black shinobi sandals.

_'Wow... it's like an older, red haired female Naruto,'_ Sakura thought idly, remembering how Naruto's favorite color was still orange, even if he mostly wore crimson red now as apposed to orange as he used to.

"Puh-lease, I can practically _taste_ the sexual tension building between you two!" Naruto said rather snarkily.

There was a silence as they processed what was just said before Kushina exploded, "You know what, get away from my team training field, both of you blond idiots! I'm not in the mood to be dealing with this shit!" she wasn't yelling, her voice was level and calm, but the raging storm under the melodic voice was terrifying.

Sakura had one thought on this, _'So THAT'S where Naruto gets it from,'_

"Oh, and who are you?" Kushina asked as she turned away from the Namikaze duo and stared at the pinkette that looked a little like her student, Kaori.

"I'm Haruno Sakura," she introduced herself, "Kaori-chan wanted me to meet you and her team, so I agreed to come," she finished off with a nice, kind smile.

"Oh, you're the girl that baka's cousin was talking about," Kushina smiled at her. A nice, sweet smile most would say only a mother or sister could give to their daughter or siblings respectively.

"I guess you still have a crush on me, ne, Naruto...kun?" Sakura teased and Naruto scowled at her.

"Yeah right, 'Kura-chan. It's been a while since you were anything more than a sister," Naruto snorted suddenly and grabbed his cousin's shirt, pulling him away, "See ya tomorrow at the meeting,"

"Yeah, see ya at the meeting 'Ruto-baka!" she called after him.

"You guys have pet names for each other?" Kushina sighed and shook her head in mock disappointment.

"Hey, we've known each other for about ten years, what do you expect?" Sakura shrugged as she sat at the base of a tree once more and sat back to watch her cousin's team train with Naruto's future mother.

She didn't notice when she fell a sleep.

+++ With Sasuke +++

He scowled as he lay there in his bed. Obito was so _infuriating_, and to make it worse, he had seen Orochimaru when the other boy had decided to go home, but he'd decided to keep walking to blow off some time. The man was probably lucky there were so many people there or he would be dead doing a lap dance for the devil.

"Stupid bastard," he grumbled, "I'd kill him but first I need to get him to let me sign the Snake contract..." his scowl deepened as he drifted to sleep.

_"Stop! Don't leave!"_

He jerked back awake seconds later. "Hinata..." he whispered quietly, rolling over and staring blankly at the wall, "What were you thinking... coming into battle like that unprepared, hime?"

+++ Namikaze Compound +++

After meeting with Kakashi and deciding that it was fun to tease the shorter boy after he found out that only he got a response from him, Naruto could be found meditating in his room, listening to the sounds of the shower as his 'cousin' did his nightly ritual and extending his senses to listen to the breathing of Kakashi's tired and sleeping form in the room next door and the shady figure making its way towards-

"Minato!" he shot to his feet and was out of the room seconds later via a shunshin.

+++ Shady Figure +++

Sayo was annoyed with the Tsuchikage. The man just _had_ to send him to assassinate the 'last' Namikaze the night before his wedding day, didn't he? He was even more annoyed that the man was taking a shower. Seriously, why did he need to take a shower when from what he knew the man had taken a shower just that morning? And he hadn't done anything to cause him to sweat other than show his new cousin around.

Yet _another_ thing he'd have to report to the Tsuchikage... it seems that the man that had blown up their factory during the time of the Toki massacre had had his students with him. And to make matters _worse_ was that the Anbu team that had annihilated the place had left a survivor. A survivor that could very well be stronger than Namikaze when he's older. A survivor that was most likely swear revenge on the very dirt of Iwagakure!

He and his fiance had talked about it, but now he was seriously considering defecting Iwa for good and maybe moving to Konoha just to spite Iwa. But, sadly, if he _did_ kill the Yellow Flash, why would they accept his soon to be wife, let alone himself?

He sighed and made his approach to the door of the bathroom until he suddenly froze as a blond haired blue eyed kid of about twelve appeared in front of him in a burst of flames and black leaves before tapping him on the forehead with a blazing blue index finger and causing his vision to go dark.

Naruto was propping him against the wall when Minato walked out before his eyes widened in shock to see the man with the Iwa forehead protector. The younger blond cast him a sardonic smile, "You've seriously got to pay more attention to your surroundings. This guy was going to kill you," he paused before frowning, "Though before that he was thinking of how the Tsuchikage was annoying and that he was going to get morning in the morning to some girl named Deidara and that the two of them were thinking of defecting to Konoha afterwords... oh! And he was thinking of how I most likely swore revenge of the very dirt that Iwagakure stands upon!" he said rather brightly considering the situation.

"How the hell do you know that?" Kakashi demanded from the door, having felt the shift of chakra when Naruto used it.

"I'd like to know as well," Minato agreed with a frown, sitting down in front of the Iwa nin, staring at him and waiting for him to wake up for questioning.

"Well, the Namikaze clan are mostly known for the seals that the clan makes and our ability in wind, water, and lightening jutsu. One of the seals we made allows us to look at the memories from the last ten minutes of our opponents, pretty much letting us read their thoughts. This man didn't want to kill you, and his soon-to-be wife was born in Tokigakure, so that's what really set off the scorn for the Iwa, when before it was really just a dull noted annoyance at the man," he said to explain and they stared at him a moment, even the Iwa nin, who was awake now, was staring at him.

"You used a _seal_ to read my thoughts, and they say those aren't important, well they apparently are useful," Sayo said dully and Kakashi and Minato jumped, "You's seriously got to pay more attention to your surroundings. I was going to kill you and I still could have for the past two minutes I've been awake," he said, unknowingly echoing Naruto's earlier words.

Minato stared at the man then asked Naruto, "Are you telling the truth about that seal?"

"Of course, I don't lie about clan matters," Naruto's voice was sincere and Minato smiled slightly before looking the man in the eye.

"Okay, I'm gonna have to bring you to Ibiki but I promise you that nothing bad will happen if that's true and you should be home to get your wife by the end of two days. Sorry about your wedding," he said quietly and the man nodded slowly.

"You think Hokage would let me stay? And have someone get my wife for me? The Tsuchikage would be really suspicious if his brother's son just up and disappeared for longer than he should have been gone,"

"You're the man's nephew?" Naruto snorted, "You know even look like the guy,"

"You've met him?" the other three males said immediately.

Naruto nodded grimly, he remembered him, and he had seen marks of battle that only that old man could make in the remains of Tokigakure, "Hai, he was at Toki a few days ago... he killed my father," he said quietly. He did know this was true from the man claiming it when they were fighting once after he'd just made Toad Sannin, saying he'd killed the Namikaze clan head in Tokigakure.

"I'm sorry," Sayo said quietly as he was helped to his feet, brought towards the door and escorted out by Minato, leaving Naruto alone as Kakashi went to go back to sleep.

+++ Sakura +++

_Where is he? she thought hurriedly as she rushed through the trees, searching for her younger brother, who had just left on a mission that was soon reported from a spy to be an ambush. 'I hope I'm not too late,' she said to herself, a lone tear falling from her green eyes. Kao was his last family member, her little brother, and the only thing other than Sasuke and Naruto keeping her going right now, after Gaara had..._

_No! She had to stay focused she-_

_A strangled scream tore through her throat louder than she thought possible just as a katana slide straight through the red haired boy's chest just missing the head, the boy's green eyes going wide in shock and pain before he fell backwards. She rushed forward, punching the man that had just hurt her brother in the chest and causing him to shoot into a tree, his chest caved in, dead._

_"Kao! Kao, speak to me!" she sobbed as she landed by his side, trying against hope to heal him._

_"Sakura-ane?" his gasped out, "Wha... you doin' 'ere?" he coughed up some blood._

_"I'm trying to heal you, so shut up and let me concentrate!" she shouted at him._

_"S-stop it... you can't... can't heal me... it hit... a vital... spot. Not even... Tsu--nade... could heal it." the boy breathed out weakly._

_"I'll heal you! I know I will! Just stay with me! You can't leave! I'll heal you!" the young medic began to sob again as she struggled to close the wounds. She continued shouting at him to stay with her as his heart began to slow before a hand was placed on her cheek and she looked down at the pale and weak Kao's green eyes._

_"Ane... stop it... I wont live... I can't without... Miko... just stop it... please... stop crying!" the red head was getting weaker as he brushed his thumb across his big sister's cheek, wiping the tears away. "Good bye....... I love you.... neechan...." the boy's heart slowed to a stop and Sakura cried out in despair as she continued to try and heal the last of her family._

_"Come back!" she sobbed into fourteen year old's bloody chest, "Come back ototou!"_

_She was vaguely aware of someone trying to pull her back but struggled to get free. It was no use as she was pulled several feet away before turned into a hug that she kept fighting. "Let go! Let go! He needs me!" she screamed, hitting the chest she was held in to._

_"Sakura... he's gone," Shikamaru's voice managed to cut through her screaming from somewhere behind her._

_"No he's not! He's just sleeping! Naruto will bring him back! It hasn't been much time! He can use that jutsu he made!" she shrieked, still trying to get free of the tight embrace someone was holding her in, using chakra enhanced fists that seemed to have not effect on the unnaturally hard skin._

_"Sakura... he's right, I can't save him, he's been dead for more than five minutes." Naruto said quietly, red outline on the top of his eyes with amber pupils, most likely being in sage mode the only thing keeping him from being hurt from the chakra powered fists that Sakura kept banging into his side and chest in a desperate attempt to break free of his comfort._

_"No it hasn't! It's only been-!"_

_"Sakura, I just managed to get here from Konoha, I've been in sage mode this whole time... I felt his chakra vanish about ten minutes before I got here," Naruto said quietly and her arms ceased motion before she clung to his maroon haori, sobbing hysterically as he lowered them to the ground, rubbing her back soothingly. "Shika... go get the genjutsu off of Kiba, get Ino and have her interrogate the prisoner the team managed to capture, and make sure that Neji doesn't kill the prisoner when he sees Hanabi," he said softly, glancing at the knocked out Kiba, the mangled form of Hyuuga Hanabi, the less mangled but no more alive Haruno Kao, and finally resting his gaze on the pale form that was once his friend, Sai, but was now nothing more than a casualty of war._

_"Hai," Shikamaru nodded and set to his tasks._

_"Where's Sasuke?" Sakura said through her sobs._

_"He's with team Sayori they... their sensei..."_

_She drew a shaky breath and said nothing. Sayori had been a friend of hers and Sasuke from when they were little, having helped them with bullies at the park when they were seven, before the Uchiha massacre._

"Sakura!" she awoke with a start from someone shaking her and instinctively lashed her fist out, impulsively sending chakra to it.

"Holy shit!" Sujiatsu's voice rang out as it was only his experience that had saved him from the sure fate of being sent to the other side of the village. The sitting room's end table being nothing but splinters being the perfect indication of it.

She shot straight up, eyes dull and puffy and she noted that tears were still streaming her face. "Wha... What happened?" she managed to say, wiping her eyes and sniffling slightly.

"Well, you had fallen asleep at the training grounds and Kushina carried you here with Kaori. We put you in here because it was closest and they were tired. I was sleeping when I heard you cry out in your sleep. Are you alright?" he said in concern.

"Y-yeah... just a nightmare of... or my brother's death about a year ago," she mumbled quietly, standing and stretching. "Which room's mine?"

"Come on, I'll bring you there," he said quietly, looking at her in concern but still leading her to the room he'd made out for her.

Sakura put her hand on her chest in the exact spot her brother had been stabbed, "Kao," she whispered, a single tear dropping down her cheek.

+++ Sasuke +++

_"Stop! Don't leave!" a girl's voice rang out as he and and his fellow Sannin were getting ready to jump for the trees to do their mission. They turned to find a Hyuuga running towards them, tears streaming her face._

_"Hinata-chan, I'll be back, I promise," Sasuke said, cupping her face._

_She shook her head in despair. "No, this is a suicide mission and you all well know it!" she cried, clinging to his shirt, "Sasuke, I love you, Naruto, you're like a brother and I love you just the same, just as you, Sakura, you're my family, Sasuke, none of you can go on this mission! You wont come back to me! I'll lose you all again! You can't!" she sobbed._

_Sasuke glanced at his team, who nodded and took off, before gently prying himself from the sobbing heiress, cupping her face with his hands, "Hinata, I swear to you on my Sharingan that I'll return to you," he said before giving her a gentle kiss and taking off as well._

_Unbeknown to him, she took off after him just an hour later, knowing she was out of Naruto's sensing range by now, being how fast the team traveled._

_*** Later ***_

_It had gone wrong, very very wrong. One minute they were makin progress in getting into the Tsuchikage's office when Naruto suddenly tensed and told them through their own special hand signs that they'd been discovered and that the Tsuchikage and, coincidentally, so was the Raikage, who had had a meeting with his fellow Kage._

_They'd cursed to themselves and soon found themselves surrounded by Anbu and Naruto was facing down the Tsuchikage and he the Raikage, who was still sore at him for attacking his brother a year ago, while Sakura and some clones took care of the Anbu._

_And now, here he was, about to break his promise by being killed by the Raikage and an Iwa Anbu. _

_Closing his eyes, he braced himself for the blow that never came. Instead, blood splashed across and he opened his eyes only to stare in horror as Hinata fell with the Anbu, who she'd gotten with a well placed strike to his chest, but the Anbu had been quick, and now, now Hinata had a kodachi sticking out of her chest._

_"HINATA!" he found himself shouting out in horror just as he caught her mid-fall._

_The battle had stopped to see the comotion in time to see Sasuke, in a fit of rage, taking out the Raikage and then several Anbu before collapsing by Hinata and holding her as he cried for the first time in years._

_Naruto and Sakura had cried that night too, Naruto having lost Shion just two days before, and Sakura had lost Gaara just a week before that. And they knew what it felt, and felt a pang go through them as they finished their enemy. Unfortunately, the Tsuchikage had escaped and Naruto hadn't finished the technique to save people who had been dead for five minutes or less._

_A week later, when the blond had finished, he had been put out that he could have saved his _sister_ if he'd finished it just a week before. He had gotten yelled at for thinking that._

Sasuke shot up as Fugaku was about to wake him up, saying he'd been crying out in his sleep.

"I'm fine," Sasuke told him quietly, "I'm just going to get a midnight snack to calm my nerves, maybe read a book for a while," he assured the worried form of his mother now aunt Mikoto, who was standing behind Fugaku and holding a fussy Itach.

It wouldn't be for another hour before he was able to fall asleep once more, this time peaceful.

+++ Naruto +++

_He wasn't in the greatest of moods. In fact, you could say that Naruto was in the worst moods possible. He was cranky, tired, irate, lonely, heart broken, anxious, he had hardly slept at all the past few months, there was a whole where his heart once was, and he had hurt his shoulder when fighting Madara and it just didn't want to go away because of a poison that Kyuubi couldn't get out for another three weeks, only dulling the effects._

_It had been just about a year since he had lost them, all three of them, Gaara, and then a week later Shion, and two days after that Hinata had been killed saving Sasuke._

_And even though he was over that, the nightmares wouldn't leave him, just kept coming back, taunting him, not letting him sleep. Kyuu said it was an affect of a strange jutsu that Madara had cast on him that would most likely not leave him for a few years, turning off and then coming back on when he least expected it. _

_The nightmares were sometimes of when he was a kid, getting hunted and beat by drunken villagers, others they were experiences from his ninja life that he would rather forget, and than, other times, it was where those he cared for taunted him either for letting them die, letting others die, or for not having taken out his enemy yet._

_He was so jumpy lately that EVERYONE he came in contact of was aware that he hadn't been sleeping as of late, and it was quite apparent that they were worried when Tsunade busted down the door to the estate to tell him he wasn't going to take any missions until he got some sleep, only to hear his screams as he was, in fact, trying to sleep again for the tenth time that night._

_She had looked terrified when he looked at her, saying that he talked in his sleep and that some things were too horrible to mention, before sending him to a _psychiatrist_ to _get help_ and figure out what was wrong. Needless to say, after spilling his entire life story the man had given him to a different one with notes before he committed suicide... yeah, he had felt bad about that and the new psychiatrist told him that the notes were enough and he didn't need to tell his life story from the beginning, just saying to say things that were causing him lack of sleep. This psychiatrist Naruto liked, he could understand because he was once a ninja before an injury took out his arm for good, and he had heard and told Tsunade about the jutsu from Madara and she was at a loss as to what to do for her favorite shinobi so she had Sasuke, Sakura, and Kao (since he hadn't died yet) move into the compound with him to offer support. They had to put up silencing seals just so anyone could sleep within the second night._

_"Naruto! Wake up!" he had nearly killed Sasuke that night, from a particularly bad nightmare that had caused his screams to go even past the silencing seals that he'd put up._

_"I'm sorry," he had said, looking about ready to cry, the stress getting at him as Sasuke sat there, getting his arm healed by Sakura after Naruto had brought the boy back with his technique._

_"I said it's okay, dobe, just drop it," Sasuke said quietly, rolling his shoulder to get the feeling back into it._

_"I've got a mission tomorrow with Sasu-kun," Sakrua said quietly as they began cleaning the blood off the floor. Seriously, Naruto concluded, he must have a terrible sleep-murdering tendency, I mean, he had killed that Kumo Anbu team in his sleep! It must be that!_

_*** A few days ***_

_"I can't believe you could be so stupid as to send Kakashi and Ino on a suicide mission with my teammates!" Naruto shouted at Tsunade, who sat there and stared at him._

_"Naruto, I'm sending you to go help them," she smiled slightly, he had been getting sleep the past few days, something the Kyuubi had said would happen eventually._

_"Okay, Baachan, but if something happens to them, I blame you," he said before nodding and vanishing on site. Not even a breeze to claim he'd been there._

_*** ** ***_

_"Kuso!" Naruto swore as he stood back to back with Ino. He had found her by herself facing a squad of Anbu... not very good for someone most used to mind games and medics._

_"Yeah..." Ino coughed up a bit of blood as she ducked a raiton jutsu. "I'm just happy you got here when you did... I'm nearly out of chakra," she admitted just loud enough for him to hear._

_"That's okay, we should be able to get this done and then help the others." Naruto told her softly._

_"Yeah I-" she cut off abruptly and he felt something splash his back as he took out the remaining nin around him in two minutes flat to find her with a slit in her throat. He pale blond hair looking white compared to the bright crimson splashed over her hair._

_He was at her side in an instant, going still as he gathered nature chakra. He healed her wound before sending a burst of healing wind chakra into her mouth and then transfering the nature chakra to her system and than sending a spark of raiton chakra to her heart. She had been revived, but just barely, and he had no time to run her to Konoha and Sakura was fighting right now... this was _not_ what he had in mind when he went to save them. Now, Ino was in a coma and his team was probably already destroying Kumo's kage tower._

_He pulled Ino onto his back before shooting towards Kumo once more. He got there in time to find Sasuke and Sakura laying there, exhausted but alive with the new and dead Raikage a few feet away with several Kumo nin ranging from Anbu to Genin littering the area. He turned towards the direction Kakahsi's signature was to find him running into the tower. His eyes widened and he put Ino down before rushing in that direction, shouting, "SENSEI!!"_

_The man stopped and looked at him a moment before smiling sadly and running in just before the explosion._

Naruto shot up just as Minato was about to shake him, shouting, "NO!" he was panting.

"Naruto-kun, are you alright?" Minato asked softly, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I... yeah, I'm fine," Naruto said quietly, running a hand through his hair. Maybe... the nightmares really were back. Old nightmares he'd lived a hundred times since that day of Kakashi-sensei's death and the thing that caused Ino to lose her voice and be in a coma for two months.

"I'm gonna go read a book, maybe have a snack to calm my nerves, is that alright, Minato?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, as long as you're-" he began in concern.

"I'm fine," Naruto said, cutting him off. He glanced at the still tired Kakashi, "Sorry I woke you,"

"That's fine," the boy said stiffly before nodding, "Good night, Naruto-san, Minato-sensei,"

"Night," Naruto told them both before pausing at the step, "Oi Minato! Do you have any Gyoza?" he called just as the older man was going to enter his room.

"Sorry Naruto-kun, we don't have any," Minato replied apologetically.

"Oh, thanks," Naruto said absently.

About an hour later he awoke with a start with his head in his arms, which were folded on the table. Sighing, he grabbed his onigiri and went up the stairs tiredly, falling back to sleep instantly. Okay, so maybe the travel to the past had exhausted him more than he thought?

+++ End +++

Well, that's it for now. Hope you liked it because I had some serious trouble with the beginning and didn't get a flow to it until like the interaction with Naruto and both his parents with Kaori's team! So yeah...

As always, Flames for the chapter will be used for something But that will be said after I list my poll for my story!!

**_Poll!_**

Poll 1:

Should Sakura really be with Kakashi?

Yes -

No -

If no, than who?

Obito(if he lives) -

Asuma -

Oc -

If Oc for Sakura, what village?

Iwa -

Kumo -

Suna -

Konoha -

Poll 2:

Who should Naruto be with?

Anko -

Kurenai -

Oc -

If Oc for Naruto, what village?

Iwa -

Kumo -

Suna -

Konoha -

Poll 3:

Who should Sasuke be with?

Rin -

Kurenai -

Oc -

If Oc for Sasuk, what village?

Iwa -

Kumo -

Suna -

Konoha -

Poll 4:

Should Tsunade and Jiraiya be together?

Yes -

No -

Poll 5:

Obito. Should he live or die?

Live -

Die -

Flames will be used to make smorez!


	4. Team Work

Summary: Naruto takes his teammates back in time when they're on the brink of death and finds that they're in a time at least four years before his father became Hokage! What'll happen? R&R

Rating: M just to be safe.

Warnings: Sannin!Team7. Third Great War time!! Naruto made them younger so they're now 12! Naruto level swearing. Blood. Character death. Future adult content. The team picked up habits from their sensei!

Parings: MinaKushi. Poll at the end of chapter!! ^.^

+++ Key +++

"Bah!" talking.

'Bah!' jinchuuriki speaking to demon.

'_Bah!'_ thoughts.

"_Bah!"_ emphasis, sarcastic, or extremely pissed speaker.

"**Bah!"** demon or pissed of jinchuuriki speaking.

'_**Bah!'**_ demon thinking.

"Bah!" important note or… an overly dramatic emphasis!

+++ Team Work +++

Minato knew many things, but one thing he was certain of was that his cousin's team and his team would NOT be able to work together, not for a while at least. He could tell from the tension that had built the night before between Kakashi and Naruto from last night, then the way that Obito and Sasuke were glaring at each other heatedly, not to mention the spark of rivalry that appeared between Sakura and Rin when they were at the hospital to pick up Rin.

It had been two days since he'd met the team his cousin was part of and he had to say, their team was a lot like his team, if not a bit more… crazy.

He was surprised to find everyone was on time, even Obito but that could be because of Sasuke, he wasn't sure. But he just _knew_ it was gonna be a long week.

"Okay guys, we're gonna be a joint team until we find a new sensei for team… Hakumei, you said it was?"

"Hai," Naruto yawned into his hand, "Who wakes up this early anyway?" he muttered to himself.

"About every other ninja on the planet," Kakashi replied, rolling his eyes.

"You know what, I don't care, I had a rough few days and I'm tired!" Naruto snapped back. He didn't mind the kid the day they met, but yesterday just pissed him off and Naruto seriously liked Kakashi-sensei better than this brat. Plus, he was tired. And cranky.

Kakashi scoffed at him and Naruto twitched before Sasuke hit him upside the head, "Knock it off, dobe" he muttered with a sigh.

"Whatever you want, teme," Naruto grumbled.

"You know, that's exactly how Kakashi-kun and Obito act, only Kakashi's more alert." Rin said quietly, looking thoughtful.

Minato sighed as the boys were having a four-way glaring contest and the girls began arguing about medics.

"Okay guys, cut it out, we're going to start with sparing to assess their skills." he cut in before the guys started arguing, too.

In the end, he was impressed. They had indeed earned the right to do solo B rank missions in their village. "So… what do you say to finding out our chakra affinities? I promised for our next meeting didn't I?" he asked his six teammates.

"We don't know," Sasuke smirked, "We weren't here,"

"Smart ass," Obito muttered under his breath and only Naruto heard.

"Yeah I know," Naruto whispered back and they both smirk.

"Kakashi's worse,"

"I doubt it,"

"Wanna make a bet?"

Naruto appeared thoughtful before grinning a grin the boy had only ever seen on Minato-sensei's face, "You know it,"

"What are you boys grinning about?" Sakura asked curiously, looking at them with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh nothing," Naruto said innocently.

"Hey, pay attention!" Minato said, looking insulted that they weren't listening.

"Sorry Minato-sensei," they replied glumly.

"Okay then, do you know what this is?" Minato asked, holding up a stack of paper.

"It's paper made from trees that the First Hokage had grown. It has chakra of the Mokuton bloodline that identifies the chakra affinity of the user when they send a bit of chakra into it." Obito said and everyone looked at him funny, "What? I pay attention!" his team gave him a dead panned look, "Sometimes!"

"That aside, he's right," Minato said finally, handing a sheet of paper to each of them. "Does anyone know how you identify your affinity?"

"When you have lightning it crumples, water it soaks, earth it crumbles, fire it burns to ash, and wind it cuts in two." once again, everyone was looking at Obito funny. He scowled, "Come on, guys! I'm not as stupid as I seem!"

"We never said you were, 'Bito-kun," Minato said gently.

"Yeah, but you were thinking it!"

"Why does this seem familiar?" Sakura uttered.

"Remember that time when Naruto wanted that mission and got all psychological?" Sasuke returned.

"Yeah and… oh! Now I know why!" she grinned while Naruto sulked.

"Yeah, you guys were so mean to me that day…" he moaned in despair.

"Okay, why don't we just get this over with and put aside that Obito was acting smart, please?" Sakura asked with a frown.

"So mean," Obito sniffed before brightening as he looked at his paper, "I wanna go first!"

"Go ahead," Minato nodded.

The paper crumpled before turning into ash.

"Wow, you've got two affinities. Lightening is your main element but you developed a second because of all the fire techniques you can do," Minato said thoughtfully.

"Is that good?" Obito asked cautiously.

"Yes, it's good," Minato said with a smile, "Sasuke, why don't you go next?"

"Okay, whatever," Sasuke said before his paper did the same as Obito's.

Minato raised a curious eyebrow, "Hm… unusual but not uncommon for an Uchiha to not have a main element for fire. But you guys have a secondary, so that's not all that odd… hm, and you guys say there's nothing alike about you," he sniffed in a pompous way.

"Don't compare me to him!" both Uchiha's said together.

"Yeah yeah, Sakura, you go next,"

"M'kay!" Sakura chirped before her paper got soggy and then turned to dust.

"Hm, a lot of you are having more than one element at the start, interesting," Minato mused before shaking his head, "Water and earth? They counteract each other, but can also make a good combination when used right," he then nodded to Kakashi, "Go ahead 'Kashi-kun,"

The paper crumpled and turned saggy, "Wow, are all of you guys dual elements or something?" he said dubiously.

"Don't know," Naruto said with a grin. He did know, of course, but hey, that's time travel for ya.

"You go next," said Minato with a sigh.

His paper split in two before one side got soggy and the other turned to ash. (Remember, the Kyuubi influence to his chakra gave him three as apposed to just water and wind).

"And now you had three, what next, is Rin gonna have four?" Minato sighed, shaking his head, "Go ahead, Rin-chan,"

"Right!" she said before her paper started to crumble and then turn to dust.

"Lightening and earth? Hm, teach you some good technique and that could be a deadly combo," Minato praised and the Inuzuka girl beamed proudly, "Okay team, we start taking team missions again in two weeks. We're gonna use this time for training and rest. Then, two weeks before the Chunnin exams, we'll do the same thing to get ready. The exam is in four months but that doesn't mean we can relax, tensions between the countries are high right now and with the way villages keep getting wiped out," he sent an apologetic glance at the future Sannin when they wince, "anything could happen there."

"Hai!" they said as one and Minato had to smile, maybe they could actually get along in the two weeks before they took any missions?

+++ Two days: Iwagakure +++

"Deidara, have you gotten any word from my nephew? He should have been back days ago!" the Tsuchikage spoke harshly to the young woman in front of him.

"I', Tsuchikage-sama. I think that, maybe, he might be dead," she said quietly, holding her hands together, where a ring could be seen.

"I didn't call you here to feel sorry for yourself! I called you so that I could find my nephew! If he is dead we need his body, my bloodline is very valuable! Even more so than yours!" the man snapped.

"I… don't understand," she said finally.

"I'm sending you and your brother to Konoha. Get in, get out. If he's dead, take the body. If he's in a cell, break him out. And if he's alive and free… kill him for betraying Iwa!" the man shouted.

She remained quiet, looking a bit terrified.

"Did you hear me?" the man shouted again.

"Hai!" she said.

"Go get your brother, you've got an hour to leave!"

"Hai! Tsuchikage-sama!" she shouted before vanishing in a plume of smoke.

She was near tears when she found her brother, Deibuka and told him the mission. "So… we're leaving?" she nodded, "For good?" another nod and he grinned, blue eyes shining happily, "Yes! Come on, 'Dara-chan! Let's go save your hubby!"

She found herself smiling despite herself and raced to follow him and gather any sentimental items of hers and her would-be fiancé.

+++ A small town in Hi no Kuni (Fire Country): A few hours +++

"We're finally free!" Deibuka sighed to himself as he and his sister slashed their Iwa hiate and put them in their pouches.

"Deidara-chan!" a voice behind them called and the woman turned to find a man with light brown hair and green eyes making his way towards them before her eyes lit up.

"Sayo-kun! I thought they killed you!" she said, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Actually, I was just on my way to Iwa to get you guys. You see, I was stopped from killing Namikaze by his cousin who had survived the Toki massacre. He used a seal to check my thoughts and the village deemed me innocent and after an interrogation I was allowed a team of Anbu who are at the hotel we were staying at for the night to infiltrate Iwa and collect you guys," he said it all in one breath.

Silence.

"So, even though you're part of Iwa… the kid bothered to check your thought process and told Konoha that you were innocent? Even after he witnessed his whole village be destroyed?" Deibuka said finally, slowly.

"Yup!" Sayo chirped happily.

"What are the odds of meeting here in this little café?" Deidara said finally, grinning.

"Well, I was getting the food while the Anbu set up some sort of survalence in the town. Something about suspicious activity around the area," Sayo shrugged.

The pair of bomb specialists nodded in silent agreement.

+++ A week and five days; Namikaze compound +++

"Naruto!" Kakashi snapped finally at the blond who, oddly enough, was ranting to _him_ about Sasuke… which sort of sounded like he was ranting about him.

Naruto stopped and tilted his head curiously, "What?" he said innocently.

"Shut up, I'm trying to concentrate!" he hated how the blond always got at him, even Obito wasn't this bad!

Naruto blinked, "Eh? On what?"

"On this chakra exercise," he said, going back to his calm exterior.

"What do you need to do?"

Kakashi let out a huff of air, both pre-teens unaware of the amused watcher in the shadows, "I am trying to balance this kunai on my middle finger while at the same time using lightning chakra to power this light bulb," he replied quietly.

"Oh, why didn't you just say so?" Naruto said, frowning.

"I did… two hours ago," Kakashi's voice was low and dangerous, but Naruto paid it no mind.

"Do you need help?"

Kakashi twitched, "Why, might I ask, would I need _your_ help. You're just a genin,"

"A genin who's done three B rank solo missions," Naruto said dryly and Kakashi glared at him.

"I don't care,"

"Fine than," Naruto sniffed in irritation before stalking to a mat and getting in a meditating position before going perfectly still.

Kakashi glared a bit more before turning away from his teammate.

In the shadows, Minato sighed in disappointment, they'd have better luck getting along if they at least _tried_ not annoying each other, or putting the other down.

He blinked stupidly when a kunai pinned him to the wall.

"Minato, why are you spying on us?" Naruto frowned, turning around to look at him while Kakashi blinked owlishly.

"Seeing how you guys interact when I'm gone," he said honestly, scratching his head sheepishly as he pulled out the kunai laced into his clothing.

Kakashi turned around again and started trying to do his exercise once more.

"Stuck up brat," Naruto grumbled just loud enough for Minato to here before he too turned and started meditating once more.

Minato sighed before walking off.

"Ne Kakashi?" Naruto asked after a while.

"What?" was the gruff reply.

"You're too tense for the exercise. One hand has to have calm energy to create a barrier to hold up the kunai and the other one has to be completely relaxed yet strained to gather lightning chakra correctly," Naruto said quietly.

Kakashi threw his back a suspicious glance before relaxing and straining his left hand while simultaneously calming the flow of chakra to his right hand. His eyes widened as the lightening chakra was easier to maintain and the kunai was easier to hold up.

He turned to look at Naruto, but he was gone. "Where did he-?"

"Up here," he looked up to find Naruto meditating upside down from the ceiling.

"Erm… thank you," Kakashi said softly.

"No problem," Naruto muttered back, looking deep in concentration.

They sat in silence until it was noon, time to meet the team for training.

Inwardly, Naruto sighed, the one person who always came late always seemed to make him get there right on time. And they didn't even like each other right now!

+++ Later +++

Sakura sat there, listening to Obito and Naruto rant to each other about their teammate/roommate. Seriously, couldn't they just fight with their enemy instead of rant about it. Sure, she ranted a lot yesterday to Kaori and Kushina about Rin, but that was the only time. Obito and Naruto did it all the time!

With a sigh, she walked over to Sasuke and Kakashi, who were both leaning against a tree boredly, waiting for Minato to show up. Strangely, they were all early today. Hm, maybe because they were gonna be taking a mission today?

"Hey kids, as you know today we're gonna be taking a mission so lets head to the tower!" Minato said happily, skipping straight to the point as soon as he got there.

"Yes!" Obito said, jumping up excitedly as the group made their way towards the Hokage tower.

They were soon standing in front of the Hokage in the missions room. "Team Minato, to get Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, and Sakura-chan back on their feet, you'll be taking one D rank before I give you guys a C rank. Understood?"

The team gave a simultaneous sigh before nodding glumly.

"Okay, you're mission is to look after the Miori twins, could you do that?"

"Hai, hai, jiji," Naruto said absently pulling out a piece of candy and shoving it in his mouth. The team sweat dropped at his blatant disrespect but said nothing.

"Again, I'm not that old," Sarutobi said woefully before handing the boy the scroll when he held out his hand for him.

"Hm, watch the kids for three hours before the mom gets home… seems easy enough," Naruto shrugged, handing the scroll to Minato, who nodded in agreement as they walked.

"Why do we gotta do a D-rank mission?" Obito whined.

"It's okay, Obito, I haven't just relaxed in a while," Naruto said with a shrug and they looked at him funny.

"We're taking care of toddlers… that's not really relaxing," Sasuke deadpanned.

Naruto merely shrugged carelessly. "I like kids, and most of the time the littler ones can't even understand when you begin to rant to them," he said, looking thoughtful.

"You're not normal, you know that?" Kakashi said dryly.

"It's all a matter of perspective, Kaka," Naruto said sagely.

"Okay, than you're not normal by Shinobi standards," Kakashi deadpanned, not even bothering to correct the other boy on his name as it didn't get them anywhere.

"Meh, who _is_ normal in the shinobi world these days anyhow?" Naruto retorted.

Kakashi simply scowled as they made their way through town.

Minato sighed from behind them, sure, they were starting to warm up to each other, in fact, Kakashi was starting to warm up to all of them and showing more emotion, but the whole group needed to do that too! Well, that's not really fair as the other four were starting to get closer, too, but… okay, now he's just confusing himself!

He talked to Mrs. Miori and then he and his six students were in the home, being told that the twins were asleep.

"So, when do you suppose we wake them from their nap?" Sakura frowned as she sat down beside Sasuke on the couch.

"In fifteen minutes," Naruto said absently, coming from the kitchen.

"How do you know?" Obito demanded.

"I just do!" Naruto said defensively.

"Boys, calm down," Rin sighed, shaking her head.

"Gee, like they're gonna actually listen?" Sakura said, raising an eyebrow at her new 'rival'.

"They better," Rin sniffed back irritably.

Kakashi scoffed while Sasuke gave his usual 'hn' before folding his arms behind his head boredly.

Minato twitched, "Okay kids, we're on a mission so stop with the antics."

Naruto, who was sprawled on the floor, glanced at him lazily, "They're not gonna listen to you, Minato,"

The older blond sighed in annoyance, "Well they should,"

"Well they don't,"

"Shut up, Naruto-kun,"

"I don't listen either," Naruto pointed out.

Minato sighed woefully.

They suddenly heard crying and Naruto was out of the room faster than they would have expected. They walked into the room to find the girls not crying and Naruto holding them with a care that surprised even his teammates, something only someone with experience could do.

"Yeah, are you guys hungry?" Naruto was asking them, walking past them and towards the living room, "Hey Sakura-chan, could you get them some bottles?" he asked absently, putting the kids in the play pen.

"I… uh… yeah," the pink haired girl said before walking into the kitchen, a confused look on her face.

By the end of the day, most of the group was exhausted, even Minato, as they were dragging their feet towards the Hokage tower. The only one not even slightly exhausted was Naruto, who seemed in a better mood than he'd been in earlier.

"How did you know what was wrong with them EVERY time?!" Sasuke demanded as they walked.

Naruto glanced at him sadly and shook his head, "I'll tell you when I'm ready, Sasuke," he said softly as they entered aforementioned tower. The raven haired boy got the hint and backed off, sending a concerned glance at his wayward teammate while Sakura frowned worriedly.

Naruto brightened and reached into his cousin's pocket, pulling out a tri-pronged kunai, "Guess what, Itoko(cousin)!" he grinned, "I mastered the Hiraishin that you taught me,"

Minato looked at him in surprise, "Really?"

"Hai!"

"Just how good are you at sealing tech anyway?" Minato said dubiously.

"Good enough," Naruto said impishly before handing the kunai to Sasuke, who raised an eyebrow.

"What's this for?"

"Knowing you, you're already on a path to vengeance and like the time with Ita-kun you'll get into a very deadly situation and this time I wont be in the area to save your ass. So, I'm giving that to you so you don't get yourself killed," Naruto finished matter of factly while they all started at him.

"What about Sakura!" Sasuke protested.

Sakura became deadly sweet, "Are you implying that I can't take care of myself, Sasuke-_Kun?_" she said with a sweet little smile no one believed.

"N-no, NO! Of course not! But you get into even more deadly situations than I! Like that time with Sasori! And then with Mei when you guys were fighting over Naruto that one time!" Sasuke quickly hastened to say, hiding behind the aforementioned blond for cover.

"Sasori? As in Sasori no AkaSuna?" Minato said, going pale.

"Yeah, the guy killed her friend and she lost it. Going after him. If not for sensei and the old baachan, she would had died," Naruto said solemnly as they walked up the stairs.

"Seriously, maybe I would have cared when that happened if she hadn't been a fan girl…" the team glared at him, "Kidding, Kami!" he exclaimed.

"Sasuke?" Naruto said seriously.

"What, Naruto?" he demanded.

"You shouldn't try making jokes… it scares me," the young blond admitted weakly.

As they entered the missions room, Sasuke shot back, "You can't find it nearly as scary as you and Sai cross dressing," the raven haired boy suppressed a shudder, "Especially when you pretend to be your sister(oiroke no jutsu! Lol!),"

"But that never happened, remember Sasu-teme?" Naruto shot back defensively, "Besides, it's _way_ better than your drag(…yeah…(KK, I got this from the story 'It's for a good cause, I swear!' so I don't own the whole drag and cross dressing bits. I don't claim it!)),"

The Hokage, Minato's team, and the two chunnin flanking the Hokage sat in stunned silence.

"Sakura-chan?" Obito said weakly.

"Yes, Obito-kun?" she asked, looking at him.

"What do your teammates do in their free time?" the Uchiha squeaked out.

Sakura became solemn, sighing, "You know what the sad thing is?" she said woefully, "None of that was during their free time,"

Minato looked at her in alarm, "You mean they did that during a _mission_?"

"Well… kinda," she admitted reluctantly before hastening to defend her teammates, "But they haven't done anything like that since… last year…"

The Hokage cleared his throat and immediately Team Hakumei's male teammates were standing at attention, backs straight and heads high while the other five hastened to follow suit. The old man sighed, just what had he gotten himself into by allowing a possibly insane team join his ranks?

"I've got a C ranked jutsu for your team," the old Hokage began, "It's to escort a noble by the name of Maoshi to the land of Tea where he will go to a meeting. There is a possibility of bandits and maybe a low class missing nin. You up for it?"

"Sir!" the team replied.

"Good then-"

"I'm confused," Naruto said, cutting the old man off.

"What is it Naruto-kun?" Sarutobi said gently while the two chunnin twitched slightly at the younger boy's blatant disrespect.

"If there's a possibility of nin attacking, why is it only C rank and not B rank?" the young blond asked seriously.

"Well, right now we're on the verge of war, so the missions are ranked lower. Understand?"

"Hai," Naruto said, nodding. "Please continue, jiji," he said politely, giving small bow. Sarutobi twitched: only Naruto could possibly be polite yet so disrespectful at the same time.

"You are to meet in three hours at the gate. Maoshi should be there. Pack for a two week mission," he told them, handing the oldest blond a scroll as he did so.

"Right, team, you are dismissed. I will see you in a bit. I've got to have a chat with Sarutobi-sama," Minato told them and proceeded to watch Sakura run towards her home, Rin rushing off to the Inuzuka compound, Obito and Sasuke having a race to their home, and Naruto and Kakashi walking at a slow pace towards the Namikaze compound, possibly talking about something, maybe arguing. You never know.

"You need something, Minato-kun?" Sarutobi asked finally.

Minato looked at the older man worriedly, "It's getting worse?"

"What is?"

"'Ruto and 'Kashi-kun's relationship! They always seem to be either ignoring each other or biting each others heads off be it when training or just chakra control exercises at home! And Naruto's been having nightmares! I've heard him screaming! But he always glares at me when I go in to check on him! To make it worse, 'Bito and 'Suke-kun's relationship is probably less tense but definitely more heated! They fight about the stupidest little things and don't even get me started on the rants that 'Bito and 'Ruto have with each other about their 'rivals'. Oh, and Rin and 'Kura-chan hardly even speak to each other rather than glare or make a snide comment! As a hole they'd make a great team but it's clear that my fucking team is exactly like my cousin's and it's causing tensions to rise and I just can't get them to cooperate when I tell them to suck it up and act like ninja! And then-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" a deep voice from the shadows cut in and Jiraiya the Gama Sannin stepped out, raising an eyebrow. "Catch your breath a bit kid, they'll warm up to each other eventually!"

Minato looked a bit sheepishly as he blushed and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry, Ero-Sensei, I'm just a bit stressed out, and I don't think it's healthy for a twelve year old to be drinking as much sake as 'Ruto-kun's team goes through every Friday at the bar. I followed them yesterday and they were drunk out of their asses! Well, Ruto was a little sober, but that could be his metabolism speaking and that just proves he drank a lot, but they were nearly passed out on the bar!" he began ranting again, this time about the effects sake has on the body before Jiriaya cut him off once more.

"Calm down, Minato," he cut in seriously, "They've gone through a lot, it's understandable that they're using the petty little fudes with your team distract them from their pain. Naruto's nightmares is understandable, and the drinking… well, it's a coping method for many shinobi. Just relax, kid," he told his student seriously.

"You're right, I'm just a bit stressed out about my teams." Minato was sheepish again, scratching his head in a way that Sasuke and Sakura would say he stole from their equally blond teammate.

"Yes, now go get ready for your mission, I've got to speak with Sarutobi-sensei," Jiriaya commanded, nodding to the door, which Minato exited moments later.

+++ At the gates +++

"There you are, Minato-sensei!" Obito said from where he and the rest of his friends stood by a man with dark red hair and dark blue eyes. He didn't seem like the nice kind of guy.

+++ Two days later +++

He should really start listening to his intuition, he grumbled to himself idly as he blocked a katana with his tri-pronged kunai, wishing to glance back at his students but he was going up against an SS ranking nin that was strong possibly stronger than himself.

He, Namikaze Minato, was losing. He couldn't deny it as he was stabbed again through the shoulder, rolling out of it and resting on his heels, clutching his now bleeding arm. "What's wrong, Namikaze, you losing your cool?" the sinister green eyes mocked him from a few feet back, the owner of the katana grinning at him as he taunted the injured man.

"No… I'm going to defeat you if I have to give my life," the blond gasped out. The man had figured out his pattern just as easily as Sasuke with the Sharingan had, within seconds, and it would be pointless wasting chakra when he knew it would get him nowhere.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye as Naruto and the boy of his thoughts tag teamed another SS ranking criminal while Rin, Kakashi, and Obito fought against an A ranked Jounin who was fairing better than he was but not necessarily losing. Sakura was sending support to each of her teammates from Rin to Sasuke, sending boulders as distractions and healing when one was starting to look out of it.

He cursed and ducked under a random nin's kunai. There were four other opponents that were fighting Naruto's and Sakrua's shadow and earth clones respectively.

Rolling to the side he raised his arms and covered his head as the explosive note went off. He heard a shout of pain and when the smoke cleared Rin was lying there. She wasn't breathing.

"RIN!" he shouted before something smashed into his head and it went dark.

Naruto rushed to the girl's side, eye lids red and pupils yellow and side ways slitted like a toad's as he called retreat. He picked her up while drawing a convertion seal and then shooting off, sending nature chakra through the seal while Sakura grabbed the down Kakashi, who had tried to protect Rin while Obito was tossed to the side.

They retreated into the forest, leaving the man who had pretended to be a noble, the leader that Minato was fighting, to grin after them while rounding up his men and their prisoner.

+++ A few minutes later +++

"She's not breathing," Obito whimpered tearfully.

"She'll be fine after Naruto works his magic," Sakura soothed her friend. Kakashi was worried as well, and he was pacing while Sasuke sat at Naruto's side.

The blond was currently finished giving the girl chakra and was now sending healing wind down her throat with his mouth over hers, healing her slashed throat and giving her air to breath. He pulled back and Sasuke quickly did a hand sign before sending a small burst of lightening chakra to her chest.

Rin shot up, gasping and clutching her throat as she looked around wildly. "W-what? What happened?" she asked shakily.

"Naruto and Sasuke just brought you back to life," Kakashi told her quietly, looking off to the side.

"They… did?"

"Naruto did, I just triggered your heart after he healed you and gave you enough chakra to give you your life back," Sasuke muttered gently.

"Thank you." she said gratefully. Rin looked around, "Where's Minato-sensei?" she asked uneasily.

"He… was taken prisoner," Obito said with his eyes shining with unshed tears.

"What?" she gasped in horror.

"We're going back to the village," Kakashi interrupted.

"What?!" Obito and Sasuke said together, jumping up in shock to stare at the lone Chunnin.

"We're going back to the village," Kakashi told them firmly.

"No we're not, we're going to save sensei!" Rin snapped, shocking them. She usually agreed with him all the time.

The two parties began to argue, shouting at each other. Sakura was exasperated as she began shouting at them to shut up but soon she was with Kakashi on the whole go back, telling her team with hand signs that they could always send clones to save Minato. She didn't want her future sensei and their new friends to die unnecessarily.

Naruto was trying to speak, but was always cut off before- "SHUT THE HELL UP ALL OF YOU!!!" the blond shouted and they immediately went quiet.

"We're not running away and we're not going back to the village," Naruto said evenly. Kakashi opened his mouth but the blond cut him off, "In the shinobi world, those who break the rules are trash," Obito was about to protest about how he was turning into Kakashi when he continued, "But those who abandon their friends and comrades are worse than trash," his voice was calming and gentle like a summer's breeze yet forceful like a raging storm.

"I don't care if you're the Chunnin Kakashi, I don't care about regulations and protocol, and I don't care if any of you turn back now. But from now on… I'm in charge, I'm the one whose going to save Minato whether you want to help or not. Are you guys with me?" he asked them all. Everyone nodded but Kakashi hesitated. "Kakashi?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"What's the plan?" Kakashi said after a moment of silence.

Naruto's face lit up in a grin as he pulled out a map. "My clones have been tailing them for awhile now and they're passing through here in a day and three hours. If we come around this way and move at a good speed, we may be able to head them off. I've sent a message to Konoha so if all goes well we'll have back up when we go up against the nin there. You may be surprised by a few things, but don't hesitate to kill the enemy. Our goal is to rescue sensei. We'll surrounded them when they take a break, Kakashi and I will be on the North East end, blocking any attempt to get away, Rin and Sakura will be in the North West, providing medical cover from their vantage point and maybe add a few of those jutsu that Minato taught you guys as a distraction. Do NOT engage the enemy, we can't have either of you hurt when we may be dying or worse, so if someone gets too close, throw this," he handed the two girls a tri pronged kunai and the girls agreed that Rin would hold onto it, "Obito and Sasuke, you will be in the South West, the only other escape route. Sasuke will help fend off the enemy with me and Kakashi while Obito, you will get to Minato and release him. If he's hurt, bring him to Sakura and Rin. You're not to engage the enemy either until Minato is safe. This is officially an A rank possibly S ranking rescue," he told them in conclusion.

"Understood," they chorused and Naruto put the map away before nodding to them and they took off at a fast pace that they all matched in their determination.

Kakashi was starting to have second thoughts on his blond haired teammate, too... just like he'd been having since that day in the dojo.

A day later the team was at their destination, setting up their plan and adding bits and pieces when four Konoha Jounin landed beside them. "Report." the leader commanded.

Obito and Sasuke supplied the information as Naruto and Kakashi huddled over a map and Sakura and Rin went over their team's equipment stores. The man motioned them over and began, "Alright, here's the plan. We'll-"

"We've already got a plan," Kakashi cut in sharply, surprising them all. Since when was he so disrespectful as to cut off a nin of higher authority?

"Really now? And what, may I ask, is this plan of yours?" the lone female of the Jounin squad asked with a raised eyebrow, deciding to humor them. She had silver hair and purple eyes with a soft yet sharp face.

Needless to say, they were impressed but... "What about us?" one of the other men asked. He had brown hair and black eyes with a kind face and a kodachi strapped to his back.

Naruto looked at them a moment before pointing at the leader, "You're a sensor/interrogation specialist, correct?"

Surprised, the man could only nod. "Call me Jiatsu,"

Sakura and Sasuke flinched slightly at the name, it was Naruto's psuedo brother's name in the future. Naruto didn't say a word.

"And you're a medic/poison specialists?" he asked the man who had yet to speak.

"Yes, my name is Toru," the man said in a soft, melodic voice.

"You're a Genjutsu/strategists, right?"

The miffed woman nodded slowly, "That is correct, and call me Nozomi,"

"Right, and you're a capture/assasination specialist?" Naruto asked the man with the kodachi.

The man's lip twitched, "That's right, my name is Ryuu,"

Naruto looked at them a moment, thoughtful and lost in his own thought process. "Okay, we've got two hours, twenty-six minutes, and forty-nine seconds before they come, so here's the new outline of our plan," Naruto began and the Jounin gave a slight start. So much for simply humoring him, eh?

"The leader of the group is Akiryuu Miki, as my clones have recently found out. He's a Jashin follower," Sasuke and Sakura both fought a scowl, remembering the Jashin follower that had killed Asuma. One of the few Jounin at the time that Sasuke actually liked and Asuma had trained Sakura in the art of the trench knives when Naruto was on his trip with Jiraiya. "So it will take more to kill him than most, I want my group to follow through the with plan while you guys go after him and Tiyona, she's one of the strongest Iwa has to offer. Toru, you stay off to the side with Rin and Sakura to help defend Minato-sensei," the man nodded slowly, "I want Nozomi to put a genjutsu over them, Sasuke, and Obito, who will be sneaking around the back to cut off all means of escape and also setting up exploding tags in this area over here." the three nodded.

"Among that, Nozomi, you will also use Genjutsu to cover us, confuse them while we fight. Jiatsu, what's your strongest secondary after interrogation and sensory?" Naruto asked suddenly.

"Kenjutsu," the man said slowly.

"Great, I want you to help Ryuu take down and possibly capture Tiyona. If you need help, Kakashi and Obito will come in," the two men were about to protest, "They're stronger than they let on!" Naruto said sharply, "after than, Sasuke and I will use plan number seven nineteen to kill Miki,"

"Plan seven nineteen! Are you insane!" Rin shrieked.

"What's... plan seven nineteen?" Jiatsu asked cautiously.

"It's practically suicidal," Kakashi said, glaring at Naruto and then at Sasuke for nodding in agreement.

"Don't worry, just because it could kill them doesn't mean it will," Sakura said sternly, all of them ignoring the confused Jounin, "They've done it more times than I can count,"

"B-b-bu-but-but-but...." Obito sputtered. "I thought when Naruto told us about it he said it could kill even sensei!"

"Oh, it can, but Naruto's been so close to death the pain can't even phase him and Sasuke has the eternal Mongekyou Sharingan so it doesn't efect him at all," Sakura said offhandedly. Though she knew she was lying....

"Again.... what's plan seven nineteen?" Toru said slowly.

So, Sakura told them and the team gaped at her. "But that's insane!"

Sakura sighed woefully, "Whoever said they were sane? They're more psychotic than Uchiha Madara,"

"We resent that!" Naruto and Sasuke immediately said as one.

"You're... all crazy, aren't you?" Nozomi said finally.

Sakura grinned deviously, "If you don't want to find out, I suggest you leave it to our team and leave,"

"We're not leaving a bunch of Genin to fight alone!" Ryuu said in protest.

"But Kaka's a Chunnin!" Naruto said in defense for his Chunnin friend.

"Okay, does anyone have a better plan?" Tory snapped.

"Well... no, but-" Jiatsu began, only to be cut off.

"Than let's just make sure we're ready!" Toru cut in.

+++ Two Hours +++

He couldn't explain how it happened, how this _child_ had somehow deducted his and his teams abilities with just a glance, or how the boy's use of shadow clones went far beyond even Minato's or the Third's abilities, how his two companions always seemed to know exactly what he was thinking and worked with him in perfect sync as they readied the trap, not even needing to be told what went where, just doing it. He didn't need to know them long, he just knew that these kids from Toki, the Yellow Flash's little cousin, the rogue Uchiha, or the wayword, unnaturally strong Haruno, were different, that even though he'd seen them with their new team, always fighting, nothing more nor less, that the original members all valued their companionship, they had _respect_, something not many could get from the way the three acted at time.

One thing for certain that Jiatsu knew, was that these kids were gonna go far and that they were devoted to their teammates, willing to risk everything to save their sensei and make it to where they all got out alive, if the risky stunt that Namikaze and Uchiha were gonna pull was anything to go by.

"Naruto, they're close," Jiatsu heard Obito whisper over the mic.

"Wait for it..." Naruto muttered, counting down from twenty in a quiet voice, hidden by a skillful genjutsu so only they could hear.

Iwa will be in position in five seconds...

"Now!" Naruto called over the radio and they all jumped into action and soon it was only that Miki fellow, Tiyona, and some random Iwa Jounin that Ryuu was fighting, protecting Rin and Sakura's backs as they healed the various wounds on their sensei, who was only slightly aware of his surroundings, having been drugged with some sort of poison.

Jiatsu chanced a glance at Obito and Kakashi. They were good for a Genin and Chunnin. Really good. They were backing him up as he battled for dominanced against the female Iwa nin that was way stronger than his Bingo book had stated. The red head growled and sent a powerful wind jutsu through his blade, actually managing to cut jaggedly through the strong metal of Tiyona's katana.

Said woman got a wild look to her face and soon they were fighting a losing battle as she obviously did even better with just a kunai, probably not really being a kenjutsu specialist to begin with. Talk about a scary thought.

Naruto growled as he fought, struggling to find an opening to initiate plan seven nineteen that he and Sasuke had invented a few years back. He rolled, annoyed as he kept having to remind himself that his limbs aren't as long nor powerful as they were in his nineteen year old body. The only way they were close to his normal strength were when he was in sage mode, which was twice as strong as normal strength in the future and he couldn't really risk that, especially as his body wasn't fully ready for that sort of thing just yet...

He landed as Sasuke was thrown back, skidding to a halt right next to him, "Any new plans, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, pretending to pant. He was still filled with energy, but he was only a Genin so he might as well act the part...

"Yeah... we charge in blindly and hope not to kill ourselves if we miss for the attack," Sasuke said, eyes shinning wildly at the thrilling thought of facing death once more.

Naruto grinned wickedly at the way his friend's mind worked. They hadn't done anything harshly dangerous since about a half of a year before coming to the past, not counting the mission they fought Madara that caused them to come to this time line in the first place. "You know, that's the best idea any of us have thought of all day, Sasu-chan!" he said in a sing-song voice that caused everyone to falter at his happy tone of voice.

"Don't call me that, Dobe," Sasuke scowled, though he then grinned in anticipation as he and Naruto rolled away from each other to avoid a powerful earth jutu that was thrown their way. Sasuke ran forward, ducking skillfully under Miki's powerful thrusts and landing a quick punch to the small of the guy's back before crouching down, allowing Naruto to jump onto his back and spring high into the air, gathering an insane amount of chakra to his arms and chest as Sasuke jumped out of the man's reach, activating a seal that he'd used his punch to place on the angry brunette, who growled at them angrily, refusing to say a word as he tried (and failed) to get out of the paralysis seal that the Sannin GX had invented together a couple years back.

Sasuke sprung back a few more feet and went through a series of hand seals before sending about half of his chakra to his hands as Naruto, upper body practically glowing, began a set of hand seals himself. They moved in perfect sync and before Miki could do anything, before the others could look, there was a blinding flash of light as both pre-teens shot forward, Sasuke's eyes shifting to Mongekyou and Naruto's looking like a cross between Kyuubi and Sage Mode eyes... not that anyone would really notice with all the light...

Nozomi scowled as she killed the one nin that didn't get fooled by her genjutsu before focusing on adding more distraction for Jiatsu's fight against Tiyona. He wasn't fairing too well against her and Ryuu was helping Obito and Kakashi out and Toru was helping take care of Minato and securing the prisoners that they'd managed to get.

Those kids from Toki were insane but they had good hearts and she had to admit she was VERY impressed by the teamwork they had and the respect Minato's Genin had for them, not to mention that blond's plan, the Uchiha's insight, and the pinkette's ability to take a stand and show the world that not all kunoichi are weak. She really liked that.

She fed more chakra to the genjutsu that confused the enemy when out of nowhere there was a large amount of light by the area the guys on team Hakumei, they said it was, was fighting Miki and she couldn't help but snap her head in that direction as the two preteens initiated their formation attack: Plan Seven Nineteen... why do they call it that anyway?

She looked at the light and squinted slightly as colors flashed and then they were gone, pulled into some invisible vortex that took them to a small platform where gravity was twice as dense and the air five times as thick where, even though it would kill anyone stupid enough to do it, they were gonna use CHAKRA in that place to kill the guy who was probably so confused he didn't know what was up nor down. It was a good plan, but she didn't think that they'd make it.

Seriously, if you used chakra there it would weight down on you so much that you'd be destroyed slowly from the inside out and there it was like ten days in five seconds, as the books on that other plane had told her when she read up on it a few years back. In her Chunnin days.

It sorta made her wonder how they managed to make a portal there but thinking on it gave her a head ache as the light distracted Tiyona enough for Jiatsu to kill her and Kakashi managed to slash across the other nin's throat, so no more troubles other than the fact that those two Toki boys have been in there for two minutes, the equivelent to a year or so in that realm.

Their team was worried, that much was certain. Rin and Sakura were frowning, eyes shining with something unreadable, Kakashi was tense and for the first time actually seemed upset and concerened, and Obito... he looked ready to cry, and was mumbling something about if they didn't come back he'd kill them again when they met in the afterlife... wow, maybe team Hakumei weren't the only crazy ones?

Nozomi rushed over to help Jiatsu over to Sakura, Rin, and Toru before watching Kakashi help Obito beside her teammate as they waited, the three medics healing the few wounds that her leader and Obito had aquired. Minato had snapped out of his daze and was speaking to Jiatsu in a rushed, hushed tones, eyes growing wide in horror as his eyes darted around in search for his cousin and the younger blond's best friend.

There was another flash of light and when they were able to look again they found a purple... thing that they could vaguely identify as Miki, probably from trying to use chakra added to trying to fight Sasuke and Naruto in the other realm. Speakimg of which...

"Wh-Where's Naruto and Sasuke?" Minato winced, holding his side as he stood up warily. His body had been carried... roughly, to say the least when he was unconscious and he had many cuts and bruises that probably hurt more than he let on.

Sakura frowned in concern, "This has never happened before," she mumbled.

"They've done this jutsu before?" Jiatsu and Minato said together, sharply.

"Well, yeah," Sakura said, as if it were obvious.

"Ugh," Minato groaned in utter annoyance, muttering something about stupidly insane students.

--- Other Realm ---

They did hand seals and sent Miki back, finally certain that all his chakra had combust and sighing as they sat on the samll platform, ignoring the swirling colors around them as they smiled blissfully at each other.

"Man, this much pain is definitely enough to put some things into perspective, ne Sasu-teme?" Naruto said, closing his eyes as Kyuubi's chakra healed his and Sasuke's dead skin and crumbling bones. It felt so good the pain nearly gone just from the mere feel of the chakra coming up to heal them.

"Yeah... you said it Naru-baka," Sasuke muttered, laying back and watching the enternal colors dance around each other, Sharingan eyes flicking slightly before shutting down, used up for the moment after keeping his body from fully dying in the other dimension.

"I think it was fun," said the blond haired leader, grinning after the hour - second in real time - had past.

"Yeah," Sasuke smirked, onyx eyes glinting in pure glee as he sat up, "If I could, I'd do that more often but then the Kyuubi would finally decide to stop healing us and my Sharingan would finally short out when I trully need it," he agreed.

"Hm..." Naruto hummed thoughtfully, "do you think we've scared them enough?" he asked finally, mischief running through his sky blue eyes with the crazed look of a mad scientist.

"I'm pretty sure it's proficient enough to say we have," Sasuke agreed, stretching his arms as the Kyuubi's power pulled back, making him feel completely rejuvinated, even as he sealed off his chakra so it wouldn't harm him.

They did several handseals before carefully pulling a small amount of chakra before they were encased in a bright light of flashing colors. When it receded they blinked past the blur just in time for Minato and Sakura to immediately jump them with questions flowing from their mouths a mile a minute as the original team looked on in relief and the Jounin smiled slightly, happy that they were alright.

In the end, Naruto ended up falling over, having used up most of his and a portion of Kyuubi's chakra to heal and keep them alive in the other realm and Sasuke had to be given support to walk by Sakura as Jiatsu took first watch after they set up camp.

--- three days ---

On the path to Konoha could be found several figures, about eleven if you took the time to count. Five were Jounin and six were Genin, all happy and joking as they trecked towards their home. Well, Minato was still suffering from minor poison that had been in his system, but he was still having a good time as he listened to his team, who just a week ago were at each other's throats, laugh and have a playful banter between them all.

"I said; Give it back!" Kakashi growled again, jumping atop his blond teammate, trying to get his mask back.

"Why don't you make me?" Naruto taunted back, tossing the piece of cloth to Obito, who tossed it to Rin before he was also tackled to the ground.

"Rin?" Kakashi tried but the girl simply grinned and threw it to Sasuke. "Ass holes," he muttered, crossing his arms and giving up on trying to get the mask from his friends, a slight, un-Kakashi-like pout on his face.

Oh yeah, Minato grinned, this is what he called a 'team'.

SORRY! My laptop finally crashed and I had to restart this chapter and ALLLLL of my other ones for my other stories! I know you guys are probably mad that it's taken so long to update but hey, I actually like this version of my chapter better than my original one. Plus, I made it like three times longer! That counts for something, ne?

Anyway, here's the poll results so far!

_**Poll!**_

Poll 1:

Should Sakura really be with Kakashi?

Yes - 3

No - 2

If no, than who?

Obito(if he lives) - 2

Asuma -

Oc -

If Oc for Sakura, what village?

Iwa -

Kumo -

Suna -

Konoha -

Poll 2:

Who should Naruto be with?

Anko - 4

Kurenai - 3

Oc - 3

If Oc for Naruto, what village?

Iwa -

Kumo -

Suna - 2

Konoha - 1

Poll 3:

Who should Sasuke be with?

Rin - 4

Kurenai -

Oc - 3

If Oc for Sasuk, what village?

Iwa - 1

Kumo - 1

Suna -

Konoha -

Poll 4:

Should Tsunade and Jiraiya be together?

Yes - 5

No - 1

Poll 5:

Obito. Should he live or die?

Live - 4

Die -

Well, that's it for now so… yeah…

Don't forget, you can vote more than once and that I'll be spending the next week or so working on my other story chapters that I lost so… hm… Anyway, byes!

Oh, and Flames for this chap. will be used to make BBQ next weekend!


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